The “Rafa Slam” is still alive after Rafael Nadal beat Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 at the Australian Open yesterday to maintain his chance of owning all four Grand Slam trophies at once.
That’s a feat that hasn’t been achieved since Rod Laver won four majors in 1969.
Playing on Melbourne Park’s center court that is named after the Australian legend, Nadal advanced to a quarter-final against Spain’s David Ferrer as he attempts to add to the Grand Slam titles he won last year at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Photo: EPA
A favorite for the women’s title, US Open champion Kim Clijsters also advanced to the quarter-finals yesterday with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.
Nadal hasn’t dropped a set through four rounds at Melbourne Park, despite carrying the effects of a virus he picked up two weeks ago in Qatar.
In Nadal’s previous match, he sweated profusely, saying he was still feeling the effects of the virus. Yesterday, thanks to cooler temperatures in Melbourne and his slow recovery, the problem had abated.
Photo: EPA
“I’m not sweating that much tonight,” Nadal said. “The two other days I was sweating like crazy and I felt very tired when I played the match. Today was the first day I felt perfect physically.”
A capacity crowd of 15,000 that included American country music star Kenny Rogers saw Nadal struggle at times on his serve.
The fourth game went to deuce four times, but Nadal finally prevailed on his service with a forehand smash at the net, followed shortly by his patented “Vamos” as he walked to the back of the court.
Photo: Reuters
In the next game, he set up one of four break points with an amazing pick up of a Cilic drop-shot at the net, sending it across the court to the side-line for a winner. He converted for 4-1 and, after serving a double fault on his first set point, Nadal took the opening set when Cilic netted a backhand.
Nadal went ahead 4-3 on a service break in the second set, then clinched it when Cilic, who beat John Isner of the US in five tough sets on Saturday, hit a forehand long. He advanced when Cilic double-faulted on match point.
Earlier, fifth-seeded Andy Murray also advanced to the quarter-finals, setting up a possible semi-final with Nadal.
Photo: AFP
“I don’t want to get carried away,” Murray said after his 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 win over Jurgen Melzer of Austria. “I’ve never won one of these things before.”
The win put Murray closer to a second straight appearance in the final at Melbourne Park, where he lost to Roger Federer last year after beating Nadal in the quarter-finals.
He also came close to ending a woeful British streak — no male winner of a Grand Slam since Fred Perry in 1936 — at the 2008 US Open, where he also lost in the final to Federer.
Before Murray gets a potential crack at Nadal, he’ll face an unexpected quarter-final rival after 22-year-old Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov had an upset 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Robin Soderling.
No. 7 David Ferrer set up a quarter-final match against fellow Spaniard Nadal with his 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over 20-year-old Canadian qualifier Milos Raonic, who had upset No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny in the third round.
In the late women’s match, Clijsters held two set points in the 12th game of the opening set on Makarova’s service, which the Russian fended off — Clijsters converted just one of 10 break-point chances in the set.
When it went to a tiebreaker, Clijsters’ experience came through and the Belgian dominated, winning the set when Makarova hit a forehand wide.
Clijsters called for the trainer after the third game of the second set and took one or two tablets, then asked how long it would be before the medication took effect. The trainer indicated about 20 minutes and Clijsters finished the match in slightly over that timeframe.
No. 2-ranked Vera Zvonareva continued her roll toward a third consecutive Grand Slam final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Iveta Benesova.
Zvonareva, who lost the Wimbledon final to Serena Williams and the US Open final to Clijsters last year, moved into a quarter-final match against No. 25 Petra Kvitova, who rallied to beat No. 22 Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska beat China’s Peng Shuai 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 and will meet Clijsters in the quarters.
Zvonareva said she ignores the doubters who say she doesn’t deserve her ranking because she hasn’t won a Grand Slam.
There are a lot of people that always underestimated me ... but it doesn’t really matter to me ... the most important thing is that I believe in myself,” Zvonareva said.
Murray knows that feeling about not having won a Grand Slam.
“I’m not expecting to go through the tournament winning matches like that, with that scoreline,” Murray said. “I’m ready for that mentally when it does get tough.”
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