|
[이데일리 스타in 임정우 기자] Rafael Nadal (2nd place, Spain) advanced to the round of 16 men’s singles at the Australian Open tennis tournament (A$80 million in total prize money, about 68.9 billion won).
Nadal defeated Cameron Nori (69th, England) 3-0 (7-5 6-2 7-5) in the 3rd round of men’s singles on the 6th day of the tournament held in Melbourne, Australia on the 13th. Nadal, who has succeeded in advancing to the round of 16 for five years in a row since 2017, will clash with Fabio Pony (17th place, Italy) in the fourth round.
When Nadal rises to the top of this tournament, he will be the first men’s singles player in the major tournament to win the 21st. Currently, Nadal and Roger Federer (5th place, Switzerland) are tied for first place in the record of the most men’s singles wins in the major tournaments in 20 times. Federer’s absence from this year’s Australian Open gave Nadal a chance to surpass Federer in this event.
In the women’s singles, top seed Ashley Barty (1st place, Australia) defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova (32th place, Russia) 2-0 (6-2 6-4) to reach the round of 16. Barty, the only Australian player on the home court to advance to the round of 16 men’s and women’s singles in this tournament, will compete with Selby Rogers (57th, USA) to advance to the quarterfinals.
Barty is ahead of Rogers by winning two matches. If Barty wins, he becomes an Australian player who climbs the top of the Australian Open women’s singles 43 years after Chris O’Neill in 1978. In men’s singles, 1976 Mark Edmonson was the last Australian Open to win.
– .
