MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Rafael Nadal’s quest to win four consecutive grand slam titles survived a feisty third-round challenge from teenager Bernard Tomic as record crowds flocked to the Australian Open in the hope of local success yesterday.
Although never a real scare, the threat from the Australian 18-year-old during a 6-2 7-5 6-3 win was such that the Spanish world number one admitted he will have to improve, especially with his main rivals in ominous form.
Andy Murray and Robin Soderling, potential semi-final opponents for Nadal, galloped into the second week. Murray, runner-up to Roger Federer last year, dismantled Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1 6-1 6-2 while Soderling trounced Czech qualifier Jan Hernych 6-3 6-1 6-4.
Tomic’s expected defeat ended home hopes in the singles after fifth seed Samantha Stosur was beaten by Czech Petra Kvitova 7-6 6-3 – a defeat she was at a loss to explain.
“I don’t really know how I lost it,” she said as Kvitova thwarted her attempt to become the first home women’s champion at the Australian Open since 1978.
Nadal, bidding to become only the third player to hold all the majors at once, was forced out of his comfort zone by Tomic.
Playing with the freedom of a man with nothing to lose and roared on by a partisan crowd, the 199th-ranked teenager rattled the Spaniard at the start of the second set, firing rasping forehand winners about the court to take a 4-0 lead.
The scowl on Nadal’s face deepened as he mixed up his game to regain the lost ground, darting to the net more frequently and peeling sweat-drenched off his torso at the changeovers.
“He’s good, no?,” said Nadal, who will face Croatian Marin Cilic in the next round. “I have to play better if I want to reach the quarter-finals. It was a difficult match. Even if I didn’t play my best tennis, for me to win in three sets … is a very positive result for me.”
Genuine Contender
While Tomic was an extremely long-shot for the men’s title, his compatriot Stosur was considered a genuine contender to end Australia’s 33-year wait for a singles champion here.
The fifth seed was unable to meet the weight of expectation that had helped draw 77,121 people to Melbourne Park, however, and crumpled under the pressure after leading the first set tiebreaker 5-3.
“I think I’ve played a lot better (than last year), handled myself a lot better and everything else, but I lost a round earlier,” said the French Open finalist. “What do you do? That’s sport, I guess.”