Denis Shapovalov provided inspired tennis as he defeated Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 in straight sets on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the third time in his career. The tournament’s 14th seed opened a small door for Zverev (noh 3) in the second-set tiebreaker, but kept up the pace to eventually win in two hours and 24 minutes.
The Canadian has already reached the quarterfinals of the United States Open in 2020 and the semifinals of the Wimbledon tournament in 2021.
Shapovalov will now reunite with Spaniard Rafael Nadal (noh 6) in the next turn. The Canadian has already beaten the 35-year-old veteran at the 2017 Rogers Cup in Montreal.
After resisting four set points and being unable to convert his first six set points in the first set, Nadal finally won a tiebreaker that lasted 28 minutes and 40 seconds.
Nadal secured his place in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park for the 14th time in his career, defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in three sets of 7-6 (14), 6-2, 6-2.
The quest for the record of 21 singles titles in the Grand Slam tournament therefore continues for the Spaniard. He tries to break the tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Mannarino, who got to savor his third-round victory after the 2 a.m. hit, sent it all in Nadal’s direction in the opening round at Rod Laver Arena.
“The first set was very, very emotional,” Nadal said. Everything can happen. I was a bit lucky in the end. I had my chances and he had several too. I’m very happy that I was able to survive the first round. This slightly crazy first set was very important. »
The first set lasted 85 minutes, including the tiebreaker, but the game was over in two hours and 40 minutes.