Rafael Nadal, the 17th Grand Slam champion and champion of the season, needed four sets to eliminate Nikoloz Basilashvili and qualify for the eighth time of the US Open quarterfinals - 6:3, 6:3, 6:76), 6:4. The victory was a bit harder than expected, due to the complications in the third set, but the Georgian was fond of the fans with their aggressive play and the quest for constant wins on both sides of their rocket.
But eventually Nadal prevailed, demonstrating a solid enough shape at the key moments when his opponent seemed to take the lead. The next opponent of the Matadora will be Dominic Team, who for the first time in his career skipped the 4th round in New York, eliminating last year`s finalist Kevin Anderson.
The first set went to Nadal`s account, without Nikoloz Basilashvili making a serious mistake and a debilitating golden breakout opportunity. The Spaniard, however, was very solid not only on the firs t but also on the second serve, and at the same time his unbelievable motion on the court compensated for the greater force of the forehands of Nikoloz Basilashvili`s main line. Also, the Georgian was in trouble when his serve was returned - his position on the court was not good enough and Nadal was punishing him, looking for backhand.
Unfortunately for Nikoloz Basilashvili, the discontent of the lost first set was transferred to his debut in the second part, two consecutive double mistakes, followed by three hit points, but a too long forehand from the rocket gave him an early break to Matadora. Nadal immediately switched to higher speed and made another breakthrough before eventually controlling the races as he wished to lead more convincingly with the 6:3, 6:3 score.
Basililashvili was saved from a new early break and managed to equalize the games at the start of the third set at 1:1 after losing 0-40, but in the dough benefited from aggressive second servers. Surprisingly, he instantly made a break, surprising Nadal with an incredible retort from backhand. Matadora, however, did not discourage himself and realized a rebike after Basililashvili again helped him with a double mistake and a forehand in the off. In the end, the set was decided by a tiebreaker who went to the Georgian`s account, taking advantage of the wrong forehand of his opponent and his great attack on the net - 6:3, 6:3, 6:7 (6).
The last year`s champion, however, began with an early break through the fourth set, shining with a wonderful forehand-winner on the straight. Basillahvilli continued to risk and aggressive, and in the sixth game via how to buy tennis tips his mighty forehanders created enough problems for Nadal to reach a 3:3 draw. Unfortunately for the Georgian, his 13th unprovoked mistake in the set provided two Matadora rebate points, which made him a new forehand-winner on the straight. Unlike the match with Khachanov, this time the great Spaniard did not show any weakness when he had to close the match by even making it with an ace (at 40-0) - 6:3, 6:3, 6:7 (6), 6:4 in three hours and 20 minutes on the court.
