Nadal eases into Australian Open last-16 for 11th time

Melbourne, Jan 19 : Spaniard Rafael Nadal on Friday thrashed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to book a place in the fourth round at the Australian Open tennis tournament for the 11th time in his career.

The 2009 Australian Open champion, who has yet to drop a set, needed one hour and 50 minutes to become the second player to reach the fourth round in Melbourne, matching the retired Stefan Edberg from Sweden and behind Switzerland’s Roger Federer, reports Efe.

Nadal set the pace from the baseline, clinching the first set in just 22 minutes without facing any break points and seized on two opportunities out of three.

Despite conceding his serve once, Nadal managed to win the second set thanks to three breaks out of seven he had.

Two breaks were all Nadal needed to seal his first win over Dzumhur in two career matches.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion was forced to withdraw against Dzumhur in Miami Open in 2016.

Nadal is scheduled to next take on Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, seeded No.26, who is on his best run in Melbourne after defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-7(1-7), 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

IANS