Nadal, Agut, Dimitrov enter 4th round of Australian Open 2019

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 2 in ATP rankings and 2009 champion Rafael Nadal, 32, Spain, advanced to the 4th round of Australian Open (AO) 2019 crushing World No 29 Alex de Minaur, 19, Australia, in straight sets in the Round of 32 on January 18, 2019. Nadal virtually toyed with Alex de Minaur, a fast rising tennis star, in the first two sets. Minaur though put up some fight in the third set. Nadal beat Minaur 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round.

Nadal served 6 Aces in the match to 3 by Minaur. Nadal, however, also committed 6 double faults in the match  2 by Minaur. But, Nadal, the winner of 17 Grand Slam titles, won 5 break points in the match to none by Minaur. Nadal also won 7 games in a row during the match. Nadal won 61 service points to 50 by Minaur. Nadal’s winning percentage on his first serve was 80 % and 53 % on second serve. Nadal will face 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych in the 4th round.

World No 21 Grigor Dimitrov, 27, Bulgaria, beat World No 102 Thomas Fabbiano, 29, Italy, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 to enter the 4th round of Australian Open. Dimitrov fired 13 Aces in the match to 4 by Fabbiano. Dimitrov won 4 break points while Fabbiano won 2. Dimitrov’s winning percentage on both his first and second serve ( 85% & 67%) was much higher than that of Fabbiano ( 66% & 61 %).

World No 24 , Roberto Bautista Agut, 30, Spain, also entered the 4th round of the Australian Open defeating World No 11 Karen Khachanov, 22, Russia, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the third round on January 18. Khachanov fired 8 Aces in the match to 5 by Agut. He, however, also committed 5 double faults to 2 by Agut. Agut won 5 break points whie Khachanov won 2. Agut’s winning percentage on both his and second serve was much better than that of Khachanov.