Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal has booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open by beating Australian Nick Kyrgios in three sets.
After 2 hours and 39 minutes, our champ progressed through with a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 victory in Rome.
Rafa’s last-eight opponent will be the winner of the match later today between Novak Djokovic and Thomaz Bellucci.
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain looks on in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
El tesnista español Rafael Nadal devuelve la pelota al australiano Nick Kyrgios durante su partido de octavos de final del Master 1000 de Roma disputado hoy, 12 de mayo de 2016, en Roma, Italia. EFE/Claudio Onorati
El tesnista español Rafael Nadal durante su partido ante el australiano Nick Kyrgios de octavos de final del Master 1000 de Roma disputado hoy, 12 de mayo de 2016, en Roma, Italia. EFE/Claudio Onorati
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates a point in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match point in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Nick Kyrgios of Australia and Rafael Nadal of Spain shake hands after their match on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match point in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match point in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
Great game Rafa … Congratulations. May today be your strong day n may Lady Luck also be on your side. I will be praying for you. God bless you. Vamos Rafa. Love your Aussie Abuela. 🏆👑🎊😇😇🎈🎈
Dear Rafa, so happy for you today, and proud too. Please stay healthy, confident and rested, Good luck tomorrow in your quarterfinal against Novak. God bless you Rafa. Love you!!! Marylynn
Rafa, in a post Kyrgios interview, said he is excited about playing Nole tomorrow. He seems very upbeat and ready for the challenge.
RARA ROCKS
Margo, I love your comment about finding a new name. Ha ha ha ha ha.
Just got home and saw all the scores today, what happened. Nole eats a bagel, Berdych eats 2 bagels, Federer, Stan and ferrer lost.
Our guy, as I said yesterday he has to be CALM and FOCUSED. He did it.
Unto, Nole next.
I can’t wait to see the replay of the nick match.
RAFA fan forever.
Yes Gen, I think you will be pleased with his play. Look at his post game interview, he’s very upbeat.
I see many more great wins for Nadal. May he be victorious I Rome.
RAFA ROCKS
Go for it Rafa you can do it.
Vamos Rafa eres el mejor el numero uno lo que tiene es suerte
First of all congrats to our champion, Rafa! He played a fantastic 3 sets game today against Nick. Rafa was aggressive and sometimes surprises Nick>drop shots. His fore/backhand was working very good. He served better yesterday, but today was oke! He stays focused and concentrated and today I saw a winner mentality in Rafa! That’s a very good sign! I hope he competes at a high level tomorrow and win. He deserves that! Come on, Rafa, vamossssss!
Tomorrow’s match against Novak is a big test for Rafa
It is what I prayed for.
We will get some idea of how much progress Nadal has made in the last 4 months.
Novak is beatable- Fact. He lost the first set against Thomas by 6 games to love- very interesting sign. Imho, Nadal has to serve well, be aggressive- meaning that he has to turn defence to attack quite often and use variety of tools to be unpredictable.
It will be an energy sapping and physical contest, probably a few break of serves from both ends but it will require a strong mental focus for Rafa to break Novak’s defence
Personally, I’m not really bothered if Rafa wins or not, all I want is a competitive match that at least goes to 3 sets.
Roger has signalled that he might skip RG, if he does, regardless of tomorrows match, Rafa will be seeded 4th and that significantly increases his chances of winning his 10th FO
Vamos Rafa!! Go get him!!.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm………………..
so fruitcake, what happened to your prediction?? O_O
Bang on the mark, Chris!
Well said Chris!
The match tomorrow will be the real test and Rafa needs that before the french open. I think Rome is the surface that resembles more to Roland Garos. He played a good match today with tremendous defense when Nick was serving. As the match progressed, rafa was able to read more the service of Nick and return the ball. However there were some signs of tension during the tie break. Rafa does not like to play with big servers so tomorrow he wont have this problem. He needs this match with Novak tomorrow to understand where his game is. i just hope the match goes to at least 3 sets win or lose. Where is that dumb prophet by the way???
The South waste prophet has disappeared as usual
He is a Nadal hater and fears the rise of the Champ
He’s busy thinking of a new name since the current one isn’t working.
RAFA ROCKS
Thank you so much for leading the marathon prayer and fasting for Nadal!
I think we should do the same thing to overcome the prophecy of the Celestial forces that Novak will win 7-5, 6-3 tomorrow.
PLEASE ALL RAFA FANS ACROSS THE GLOBE ARE TO HOLD HANDS TOGETHER AND PRAY IN UNISON TO AVERT THE PREDICTION OF THE CELESTIAL FORCES. CHRIS MBAKWE, PLEASE LEAD US ALL IN PRAYERS ONCE AGAIN FOR 12 CONTINUOUS HOURS.
That, I’m afraid is the only way Nadal can win tomorrow!
LOL Busy licking his wounds.
RAFA ROCKS
Hmmmmmmmm………
Presto, the ‘dumb’ Prophet is here!
I see Novak winning in straights: 7-5, 6-3.
But we’ii see…….
Why the ‘but we’ll see’? As a self proclaimed prophet, you don’t seem so sure about your own predictions or should i rather say mental concoctions…
Crap, and I thought he was on his knees at mecca
besides being a six-year old retard, you’re also a fking racist and a bigot????
Hope that Toni instills confidence in Rafa and not fear (of playing against nole). He’s always been negative about Rafa facing nole – making fearful comments and dreading the eventuality. Rafa needs self belief and self confidence to be drilled into his mind and not doubt and fear.
Come on Rafa – just go for it!
Love you!!!!
Vamos
And slowly that shroud of invincibility on Novak is falling off and leaving the emperor naked! To get bagled in the opening set, and then struggle to fight back, only bodes great for tomorrow’s clash. Rafa can and WILL beat Novak tomorrow, because Rafa is already in his head! And will only get better for a possible face-up at RG.
As for comments that Rafa is tired because he is playing non-stop, take a chill-pill and get real, EVERYBODY plays non-stop, the playing-field is level, and a TRUE CHAMP rises to the occasion when required to!!!
VAMOS RAFA – THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR!!!
Novak is only invicible because Rafa was not in form since his injuries and Roger is not the same as before. He got his opportunities but even then did not manage to win french open last year because of wawrinka. He has added a lot a variety to his game though, dropshots, better serves, faster and deeper groundstrokes. I believe Rafa despite not being 100 % can still beat anyone at french open. He is a different beast there. Wished only he could improve his serve and add some more strategies to his game which is critical on big points.
Look how many slams Nole won with Rafa’s downfall at the start of ’14. If Rafa was in his prime or just his regular form he wouldn’t have won half of what he has, maybe more. That’s just facts. Rafa today isn’t the same from 2013 when he spanked Nole on every slam. He was toying with him. Now he’s out of it for a couple years and Fed being old he is lucky has no competition whatsoever. Rafa is the unluckiest of all. Played through Feds prime as a youngster and played through the rest with Nole, Andy in their prime.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm…………………………
Vamos Rafa! Nole up next…rest and play your best🎉🙏
I hope Rafa is well rested for his opponent on Friday. I worry about exertion being that he has been playing non-stop.
SLEEP WELL CHAMPION
YES sweet Rafa, you did it. I knew you would nail it 👌😅👏 You’re the King 👑🎾💪 Congratulations sunshine☀️💖 Now celebrate and go for the victory again tomorrow 😃😘 VAMOS and all the best of luck 🍀❤️👌 You can do it 😊👍
Rafa congrats in your win.the King of clay.vamosssssssss all the way to the finals.🎾🎾🎾🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸👍👍👍❤️
YES!!!