Wow! This is such a brilliant contest we’ve just seen at Rod Laver Arena as Rafael Nadal is the first player confirmed into the Quarter-Finals, he had to overcome a grueling and competitive opening set run against Adrian Mannarino via tiebreaker before Nadal wrapped this up quick and easy in straight sets (6-7 via 14-16 tiebreaker, 2-6, 2-6).
Not the best day out there for Mannarino in the office, he fought really hard at the beginning where the Frenchman was on the same page as Rafa that went all the way & almost got snatched the early lead. However, he just couldn’t kick on ever since having fell way behind, as these consolation games Mannarino accrued later on reflected his next run of inconsistency & eventual elimination from this main draw.
And congratulations to Rafa with the win, the Spaniard endured plenty of highs throughout this tie such as when Rafa came out unscathed after a very competitive opening set tiebreak. It boosted his confidence before he used that early lead towards bridging that other half run towards the finish line, and Rafa wrapped this up in the next two sets without a fuss as he will now face Candadian Denis Shapovalov for a Final 4 spot on Tuesday.
