Rafael Nadal continued his imperious form at the Australian Open today as he swept aside Tommy Haas in straight sets to move into the fourth round of the tournament.
The top seed lost the opening two games to Haas but never looked back as he took the next four in a row and went on to clinch the opening set 6-4.??
From there Rafael took complete control of the match and did not face a break point in the final two sets which he won 6-2 6-2 to set up a meeting with Fernando Gonzalez.
Fernando on the other hand had a tougher day at the office after coming back from the brink to claim a stunning five-set win over Richard Gasquet after a thrilling four-hour clash in the third round.
The Frenchman appeared on course for victory after taking the first two sets 6-3 6-3 but the Chilean fought back to take the next two 7-6 (12-10) 6-2.??In an epic fifth set, Gasquet missed chances to break and a string of superb forehands earned Gonzalez a 12-10 win.
Rafael’s next challenge wont be an easy task as he knows that “the toughest matches are still to comeâ€. In the next round he’s expecting a confident man whose been able to overcome two amazing players like Hewitt the first round, and Gasquet (after his unbelievable comeback). “He's coming with confidence. Going to be a very tough opponent†said Rafa at the press conference.
Rafael’s only hope is that the time Gonzalez has spent on court “will affect him a lotâ€, however, realistically speaking it’s a double sided sword because that will only increase his “confidence (more) than ever, no, because he beat against big player like Richard, and he had a very good comeback. So that's very important for the confidenceâ€
Rafael’s fourth round encounter with Fernando will take place on Monday. It will be the seventh time they’ve played against each other, with Rafael winning 4 of the encounters.
