Defending champion Rafael Nadal has progressed to the US Open quarter-finals with a four-set victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili.
The world No. 1 got the better of his Georgian opponent 6-3, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 to reach the last eight of the tournament.
He improved to 8-2 in fourth-round matches in the US Open, rebounding from dropping the tiebreaker in the third set to break Niko’s serve twice in the fourth set.
After the match, Rafa said:
Two matches in a row. Very tough ones. I had a big chance at the beginning of the third. A lot of credit to him, he was playing great, hitting the ball very, very strong. Seems like I was not in control of the point even when I was hitting good shots, he was always able to come back with very strong shots, so it was a tough one.
Our champ will face ninth-seeded Dominic Thiem for a place in the semi-finals:
It’s going to be a tough one. He’s a great opponent. Hits the ball very strong, too. He’s playing great. To win against Kevin means he’s doing a lot of things very well. I need to play my best.
That will be a rematch of Rafa’s victory in the French Open final and will be their first meeting not on clay.
Source: AP
Another step in the journey to retain his US trophy. Well done Rafa. Two tough matches but winning those will make you stronger. Those of us who really support Rafa, always keep faith in him, know his character and mentality to step up. Go Rafa
Vamos Rafa . You raised your quality when you needed it . Brilliant stuff .
Rafa will beat Thiem in 3 or max4 sets .
Rafa rocks .
Nikoz was hitting brutally & Rafa withstood the barrage comfortably .
Rafa plays high prrcentage shots , very clever & brilliant execution & superb movements .
Rafais gonna won USO !!
Can see the fire in his eyes .
Awesome Rafa !!
👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last two.matches the opponent played really well and rafa played great to win this matches.
I want to see more drop shots and sharp angles on his backhand shots ….vamos rafa ! best luck for quarters
Felicidades Rafa. Eres un campeón. Lo único que no me gusta son tus tops sin mangas. No me gusta la idea de ver tennis con bellos. Cámbiate a las de manga. Gracias y que sigas cosechando triunfos. Gracias
Rafa has made it through two tough matches in a row. Our champ keeps grinding results out there even when it seems he may not be playing his best.
Thiem awaits, but I have no doubt that Rafa is up for the challenge. Props to Thiem for overcoming Anderson. He stood strong!
But today’s match is in the books for Rafa. I’ll take the win, and only look forward to Thiem’s match next. We can’t be getting too ahead of ourselves yet:)
Thanks for the win Rafa. Rest up and keep the streak going!
TERRIFIC > WHAT A PLEASURE TO WATCH RAFA.AND LISTEN TO HAVE MATCH INTERVIEWS>JLS IN REDONDO BEACH <CA
Best of luck for the next round Rafa! We know you can do it. Vamos💪💪💪
Another hard-fought win. Congratulations to Rafa and all his fans! Rafa has been tested once again, and withstood the very best his opponent could offer. As a fan, I’m very proud of him! Hope he rests and recovers well for the next battle, most of all, his knee is ok,
Can we look at how the matches were played, instead of just the scores, the player ranking, etc. I think it’ll be much easier to beat Anderson today than Basilashvili, based on their performance.
It’s a privilege to watch Rafa play. Best of luck in the next battle, my hero!
Lovely comment YB
good game today! 👏👏👏 best of luck for the next match…🍀🎾🍀🎾🍀🎾
Rafa is serving better. AT least this time he had 8 aces. Had none in the previous game.
He will raise his level as he needs to, as he usually does. His opponents in the last 2 matches raised their level and gave him a workout, but he still won. Head to head, Nadal is 7 -3 against Theim, so I don’t know why you would think Theim would win their upcoming match.
I agree that his serving was so much better in this match. Both the execution, and the overall strategy.
I also agree that we cannot assume he will lose to Thiem next round. However, it is the first time they will meet on hard court. I guess it will take a while for Rafa to work out Thiem’s strengths and weaknesses against him on that surface. So we may see another difficult match for Rafa. First meetings are always challenging.
He will raise his level, but there are inevitable questions about how much physical and mental energy he has in reserve. The two affect each other.
I am not making a prediction either way.
Congratulation played very well stay tough all the way
RAFA needs to get into the GROOVE. These long matches seem to be wearing him down.
Good luck for the QF.
RAFA ROCKS
Good match by both players. Happy for Rafa. Take rest for the next round. Vamos Rafa <3
Jubii! – Congrats Rafa 🤗❤️😃👏🏻
VAMOOS and the best of luck at the QF Champ 🎾💪🏼😍🍀
Bravo Rafa! Awesome perseverance.
You are the best! A refined genius.
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SWEETHEART MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR OWN BOTTLES OF WATER……
MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR OWN OJ ….
(AND LETS HOPE IT IS NOT NECESSARY) MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR OWN PAIN MEDS SHOULD YOU NEED IT.
KNOWING YOU ARE BLESSED AND FEISTY I AM SURE YOU CAN ENJOY A BEAUTIFUL TIME AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) WE LOVE YOU SWEETHEART AND SENDING BIG CONGRATULATIONS AND HUGS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF RESPECT FOR THE WAY YOU ARE SO FIT AND IMPROVING EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) YOUR ENDURANCE IS TOP TOP TOP TOP TOP ….AND IF YOU COULD SEE THE CAMERA CLOSE UP OF YOUR OPPONENTS TIRED, RED, EXHAUSTED FACES YOU WOULD REALIZE HOW YOUR POWER AND STRENGTH AND FEISTY FIGHTING IS WEARING THEM OUT…..YOU ARE A CLASS ON YOUR OWN SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) YOUR EVERY STROKE….EVERY POINT…..EVERY RETURN ARE ALL SO FULL OF PASSION AND HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) IT WAS SHEER JOY AND FUN AND PLEASURE TO SEE YOU FIGHT AND WORK SO HARD FOR EACH POINT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) KUDOS SWEETHEART AND VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) HAVE FUN AND A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) LOTS OF LOVE & HAPPINESS & VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
right know i will say that novak is the favourite to win in new york nadal right now does not have the form to beat novak
I haven’t watched any of Novak’s matches as I can’t quite bring myself to use my time that way 😉 but I can understand what you say. The presenters are saying that Novak looks relaxed, and he has had fairly straightforward wins recently. So that is massively in his favour. By contract, Rafa has looked stressed in practice, and shown tightness in crucial points.
However: Novak could be up against Federer. And Federer played *amazingly* against Kyrgios. So I’d say Roger is a big barrier to Novak right now.
I think Djoker will win the quater final and reach the final. And in my opinion Rafa is not having his best form. The serve is still shaky as always but further more his forehand lands kinda short. If Rafa let Thiem to step in the court then he will be in trouble for sure with that megaforehand from Thiem.
Back with negativity. Please stop
based on this perfomance i would say that thiem is the favourite unless nadal raises his game against thiem he needs to move better and serve better otherwise he will lose against thiem
Rafa is serving better. AT least this time he had 8 aces. Had none in the previous game.
He will raise his level as he needs to, as he usually does. His opponents in the last 2 matches raised their level and gave him a workout, but he still won. Head to head, Nadal is 7 -3 against Theim, so I don’t know why you would think Theim would win their upcoming match.
Congrats, Rafael. Stay healthy and confident.💪👊👍👏👑🏆❣️
He can hardly be considered a favourite to win this tournament anymore, but hey. Anything can happen, if he raises his level considerably and his bum knee doesn’t get worse.
Do you think he prefers to be the favourite, or not?
Advantage of being favourite: locker room aura.
Disadvantage of being favourite: pressure.
It’s interesting. My opinion is that he doesn’t care about being the favourite, but he doesn’t want his perceived weaknesses widely discussed, to make other players feel like they have a chance if they go big.