Rafael Nadal was made to work by Andrey Kuznetsov at the US Open on Friday night, but finished strongly against the Russian in their third-round match, winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in just under two hours. Nadal is now into the second week of a Grand Slam event for the first time since his quarter-final finish at Roland Garros last year, where he fell to Novak Djokovic. He lost in the third round of the US Open to Fabio Fognini last year, but had reached the final in his previous three appearances.
“I think I played well tonight,” Nadal said. “Very happy about the way I played. First set, especially, was very high level.”
Nadal was nearly flawless in the opening set, landing 73 per cent of first serves and making only three unforced errors. Realising that consistency was not going to bring him victory, Kuznetsov threw caution to the wind in the second set, attacking Nadal’s second serves with flat forehands. He won 10 of 16 points when the Spaniard failed to land a first serve and broke serve twice. Unfortunately for the Russian, Nadal pursued the same strategy on return games and broke three times to build a commanding lead.
Relieved to emerge with the second set, Nadal rediscovered his rhythm and cruised to the finish line. Kuznetsov, who had reached the second week of a Grand Slam only once in 14 attempts coming into the fortnight, made a last stand with Nadal serving at 5-2, 40/0. The Russian saved three match points to force deuce, but saw the two-time US Open champion pull off a perfect tweener lob, then convert his fourth match point with an unplayable flat serve.
Nadal, who has yet to drop a set in three matches in Flushing Meadows, should have plenty of physical reserves to make a deep run in the US Open draw. His next opponent will be 22-year-old Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who rallied to beat Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets.
“He is a great player. He is young. He has all the shots: good serve, good forehand, good backhand. He’s a tough opponent,” Nadal said. “I practiced with him a couple of times and I played him a long time ago. I know he’s able to play at a very high level. I’ll need to be ready to play my best if I want to keep going.”
Pouille, who reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon this year, is playing the best tennis of his life. However, he may also be drained coming into a match against one of the most physically intimidating players in tennis history. Pouille has dropped the first set in every one of his three matches thus far and is coming off consecutive five-set battles.
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