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Patna : Second seed Rafael Nadal, 34, Spain, 9th seed Matteo Berrettini, 24, Italy, 16th seed Fabio Fognini, 33, Italy, and 24th seed Casper Ruud, 22, Norway, reached the 4th round of Australian Open (AO) 2021 on February 13, 2021.
World No 2 Rafael Nadal, the winner of record equalling 20 Grand Slam singles titles including 13 French Open titles, beat World No. 69 Cameron Norrie, 25, UK, in a tough contest 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 in third round at Melbourne Park, Australia, on February 13, 2021.
Nadal, the 2009 AO champion, won 5 break points during the match to 1 by the British player. The Spainiard also won 5 games in a row in the match to 2 by Norrie. Nadal, in all, won 105 points during the match to 79 by the Britt. Norrie though fired 9 Aces in the match to 7 by Nadal, who will face Fabio Fognini, Italy, in 4th round on February 15, 2021.
Matteo Berrettini beat 19th seed Karen Khachanov, 24, Russia, in straight sets, all tiebreak, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 in third round. The Italian hammered 18 Aces in the match to 12 by the Russian. Both the players won 2 break points each in the match. They also won 3 games each in a row. Berrettini, in all, won 129 points in the match to 115 by the Russian. Berrettini will clash with World 6 Stefano Tsitsipas, 22, Greece, in 4th round.
World No 17 Fabio Fognini beat 21st seed Alex de Minaur, 21, Australia, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in 3rd round. Fognini won 5 break points during the match to 2 by Minaur. Both the players won 3 games each in a row. Fognini, kn all, won 93 points to 80 by Minaur. The Australian fired 4 Aces during the match to 3 by the Italian. Both the players committed 3 double faults each.
World No 28 Casper Ruud beat World No 85 Radu Albot, 31, Moldova, in four-sets 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in third round. The Norwegian won 5 break points during the match to 2 by Albot. Both the players won 3 games each in a row during the match. Ruud fired 9 Aces in the match to 3 by Albot. Ruud, in all, won 130 points during the match to 100 points by Albot. Ruud will face 7th seed Andrey Rublev, 23, Russia, in 4th round on February 15, 2021.