What a match!
Rafael Nadal and rising star Sascha Zverev faced off in the 4th round in Indian Wells. After losing the opener at the tiebreak, Rafa bagelled (6-0) Sascha in the second set. The drama unfolded in the decider when the German had a match point on his serve (5-3 40-30) to crash an extremely easy volley in the net. From that moment Sascha disappeared to win only 1 point till the end of the match. The final score was 6-7 (8) 6-0 7-5.
Nadal. Happy about the mentality
Rafa commented “A great victory. I’m very happy about it. I am especially happy about the mentality on court, the spirit of fight during the whole match, believing that I can win a match during the whole time even in the tougher situations.”
Zverev. I missed the easiest shot
Sascha is definitely destined to be a top10 player (if not more), but he still needs to work on his nerves. He is 18, so he has time, but he has paid the price for completely giving up the 2nd set and he failed to hang tough after wasting that match point. The German commented “I missed probably the easiest shot I had the whole match. It was a great match. Rafa did what he does best; he was fighting. He’s known for that,” Zverev commented. “I still had chances to win. I had an easy shot at match point and I missed it. I’m out and he’s in the quarter-finals.”
The quarters vs. Nishikori
Nadal will play Nishikori in the quarters. The head to head is 7-1 for Rafa, but Nishikori has caused him lots of troubles in the last few matches.
TALL AND QUICK |
TWITTER REACTION |
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THE DRAW – UPPER PART |
FUTURE WORLD N.1? |