Rafael Nadal is in the quarter finals of the Australian Open after beating Frenchman Mannarino, and to close the first set he was taken in a crazy tie-break, which lasted 28 minutes, and only ended with 16-14.
“It was one of the craziest tie-breaks of my career. It was worth half the date, no doubt. Mannarino played very well, with balls that were difficult to control, which gives more value to my victory, I managed to resist in difficult moments», said the Spaniard, who evaluated chances of reaching the title now facing Russian Shapopalov:
“I’ve worked hard over the last few months to get back on the circuit, now I’m enjoying having arrived in the quarters. I don’t know if I’m ready to win, I said before that I wasn’t a candidate, but in sport things change quickly. I’m better than I was ten days ago. Shapopalov is one of the most potential players on the circuit, it’s hard to stop. And now you can no longer expect easy rivals.”
Pick your jaw up off the floor…??????@RafaelNadal clinches the first set in an EPIC cat and mouse tiebreak 7-6(14).
Get that popcorn in a bowl, STAT. #AusOpen · #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/mFo7XHfGIl
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2022
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