Australian Open: Gutsy Nadal tops Zverev

MELBOURNE: After Rafael Nadal served out his third round match - a four hour clash of weapons over will and power against persistence - he let out guttural shout, fists clenched, eyes shut and head thrown back. The Spaniard, who had plumbed some dark depths in the last couple of years, had just shut the door on the thunderous talent of German teenager Alexander 'Sascha' Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2. A comeback five-set win for the 30-year-old, he wasn't rejoicing so much then, it was relief.

Saturday's win was Nadal's first five-set victory in a Grand Slam in two years, since he beat Tim Smyczek in the second round here in 2015. He had since lost to Fabio Fognini at the US Open (2015), Fernando Verdasco here last year and Lucas Pouille at the US Open, failing to haul himself across the line in five-set affairs.

Nadal, whose mood in the media conference later was a contrast to the emotions he displayed on the court -skipping, jumping and thumping chest - said, he was happy with the win. “It's an important result for me. I lost the last couple of matches in the fifth,” he said. “I worked a lot in December to have chances to compete well in these kind of moments. Even if I start the match with some nerves, I think I was able to come back well. Mentally I've been very positive during the whole match. I finished the match playing much better than I started. That's a very important thing.”

Zverev, who was hampered by cramps in the fifth game of the deciding set, showed he has the shots. Zverev, who thumped down 19 aces and had 58 winners, significantly more than his opponent on both counts, however was undone by a vital static around which the Spaniard's play revolves. In the over four-hour third round contest Zverev had 74 unforced errors (41 off that rapier-like forehand) while Nadal had just 34.

Zverev, playing with no fear, muscled through the opening set, making his opponent look like a warrior without weapons. When the 19-year-old won the third set, serving a storm in the tiebreak, after Nadal had dominated play, stepping into the court opening it up and forcing the pace, it looked like over and out for the 30-year-old.

In other third-round men's clashes, third-seed Milos Raonic of Canada scored over Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3; Gael Monfils beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4; Austria's eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem knocked out Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; 11th seed David Goffin scalped the big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.