Rafael Nadal had to battle extremely hard against Diego Schwartzman in the Australian Open 4th round.

The Argentine is a typical die-hard player that never gives up, and that is an explosive combination in a match-up against Rafael Nadal.

Probably Rafa didn’t play his best tennis to concede 18 break points (!!!), but Diego managed to convert only 3 of those while Nadal converted 7 (still out of 18).

After winning the first set (6-3), Rafa was 1 break up in 3 occasions in the second set (1-0, 3-2, and 6-5), but he was never able to capitalize to lose the set at the breaker. At that point, the world no.1 kept his intensity to win the following 2 sets and the match 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-3.

It was a great battle. NADAL

Soon after the match, Rafa commented

“It was a great battle. He is a good friend of mine. He is a great player, in all aspects, and I feel that for a lot of moments he was serving well.

I was able to keep fighting until the end, and it is the first big match I have played in 2018. It probably helps my confidence, knowing I can resist almost four hours on court.”

The quarters vs. Cilic

Rafa will face Marin Cilic in the quarters. The head to head is 5-1 for Nadal, 3-1 on hard courts.