MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Sixth seed Rafa Nadal dropped his first set at this yr’s Australian Open however nonetheless powered by way of to the fourth spherical with a 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-1 defeat of Karen Khachanov on Friday.
The Spaniard, searching for to say a report twenty first Grand Slam title within the absence of nice rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, was sensational as he took a two-set lead.
However Khachanov, seeded twenty eighth, threw warning to the wind within the third set, stalling Nadal’s cost with some ferocious hitting.
Olympic runner-up Khachanov had misplaced all seven earlier conferences with 2009 Australian Open champion Nadal however briefly seemed able to mounting a comeback.
Nadal seized again management with a break of serve in the beginning of the fourth and with the clock having ticked previous midnight he completed off the match in a rush.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Modifying by Toby Davis)
Supply: KFGO
