Australian Open: It's Rafael Nadal vs Nick Kyrgios in fourth round

MELBOURNE: They are opposites, but they don’t attract. Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios — fourth-round opponents, come Monday.
The Spaniard is a trier, a maximizer, the World No.1 and owner of 19 Grand Slam titles. He is tennis’ ultimate warrior. He is all heart. Kyrgios is the sport’s whimsical wild child, a profligate. A Mohawk sporting, earring wearing, foul-mouthed storm. He is talent on a pair of untrained legs.Words like effort, routine, gym and coach don’t figure in his dictionary. He is the gift.
On Saturday, Nadal, who owned 2019, winning major titles at Roland Garros and the US Open, clinching the year-end No.1 and leading his country to victory in the Davis Cup at home, was too good for friend and compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta, the 27th seed in the third round of the Australian Open, winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. He slammed 42 winners and had only seven unforced errors. This is Nadal’s 47th time in the round of 16 of a Grand Slam, his 59th appearance in a major. He’s made the round of 16 at Melbourne Park 13 times.
Kyrgios, who played on his beloved Melbourne Arena, was the hurricane that struck close to midnight. He closed out against the towering Russian Karen Khachanov 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (10-8) on his third match point, after 4 hours and 26 minutes of action. It was the longest match of the Aussie’s career and he sent down 33 aces, 97 winners and maybe a dozen tweeners. It will be his third time in the round of 16. Saturday’s late-evening fare had everything, warnings from the chair, bloodied wounds, injury timeouts and fireworks, sizzling tennis that had spectators on the edge of their seats. Backed by a full house in his beloved Melbourne Arena, Kyrgios whose third matchpoint came 1 hour and 53 minutes after his first, was solid in the sprint to the finish line from 7-8 in the super tie-break. A Khachanov backhand error finally gave the Aussie the match.
“Man it was crazy, I don’t know what to say, none of this would’ve been possible without my team, you guys are unbelievable. This was an epic,” Kyrgios said. “My legs each weigh 40 kilos. I haven’t had a moment like this, one of the best wins of my career.
I was losing it mentally a little bit, I thought I was going to lose. My team willed me across the line.”
Kyrgios has been having a go at Nadal, taking swipes at the Spaniard’s tedious routines, that often results in him taking too much time between points. Following a code violation during his second round match he imitated the excesses of Nadal’s service motion. The Spaniard said it was funny, but he was clearly not amused.
Monday’s fourth round clash will be the pair’s eighth meeting, with the 33-year-old leading the head-to-head 4-3. They’ve split their last two encounters, both played in 2019, on outdoor hardcourt (Acapulco) and on grass (Wimbledon). The Aussie won the first.
Asked if he liked Kyrgios Nadal, one of the more popular players in locker room, said he didn’t know the 24-year-old personally. “When he does stuff that in my opinion is not good, I don’t like. When he plays good tennis and he shows passion for this game, he is a positive player for our Tour. I want my tour bigger, not smaller,” Nadal said. “So the players who make the tour bigger are important for the tour. When he’s ready to play his best tennis, he is one of these guys. When he’s doing the other stuff, of course I don’t like.”
That’s Nadal saying it like only he can. Kyrgios, still grappling with his win over Khachanov, however, refused to bait the legendary Spaniard.
Pliskova knocked out: In a shock result in the women’s competition, secondseeded Czech Karolina Pliskova bowed to Russian 30th seed, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in two tie-break sets. The second seed was edged out 6-7 (4-7), 6-7 (3-7). “She was playing very well, the best she played against me so far,” Pliskova said. “I was about 40 per cent of my game. The important moments she always served well, she played better than me.”
In men’s third round matches, Daniil Medvedev moved past Aussie Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; Austria’s Dominic Thiem beat American Taylor Fritz 6-2, 6-4; 6-7 (5-7), 6-4; seventh-seeded German Alexander Zverev beat Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. 17th seed Andrey Rublev extended his winning streak to 15 matches beating Belgian David Goffin 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).