[33] Anett Kontaveit (EST) vs. [39] Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)
Suarez Navarro, once ranked as high as number six in 2016, is now ranked thirty-nine. Injury combined with age has made the road back to the top a tad tricky to navigate. A string of early round losses did not help her cause either; however, she never stopped fighting and is back in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the third time in her career.
Things looked pretty grim for the Spaniard after she dropped the first set and went down a break in the second. She was on the brink of elimination in the third set when Kontaveit served for the match at 5-4. Yet, Suarez Navarro never gave up and just kept fighting, forcing her opponent to think about what she was about to accomplish. That moment of hesitation was all the Spaniard needed to break back and extend the match in her favor. It was not an easy victory; however, it is perhaps that much sweeter because she had to work so hard to win the match 4-6, 6-4, 8-6. She will face the number two seed, Caroline Wozniacki, next. The Dane leads their head-to-head 5:2. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, she has only been able to beat Wozniacki on clay.
[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [26] Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
Schwartzman is a familiar foe for Nadal. Despite never winning a set against the Spaniard, Schwartzman has pushed him before in their three previous encounters. Thus, it was expected he would do so again and he did, forcing Nadal to come up with his best tennis to get the four-set victory. The Argentine won his first set against the Spaniard when he forced the second set to a tiebreak after being broken three times in the set. Nadal lost the tiebreak after making two consecutive errors; however, he regrouped quickly and wrapped up the match 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3. Nadal will face another familiar foe in the quarterfinals, the number six seed Marin Cilic. With the victory, Nadal secured his number one ranking.
SOURCE OF IMAGES: serveandrally originals (Rafael Nadal and Carla Suarez Navarro)
Yay!! Happy for Nadal maintaining his 1st place ranking. Only saw first set of match against Schwartzman…was very worried cause Nadal looked a little confused and a bit off kilter at the beginning. Couldn’t watch any more of the match…due to the late hour…but thought Nadal got it together by the end and won the first set. Had faith that he would do what he always does…elevate his game and win the match. Cilic is going to be a formidable opponent and I pray that Nadal can elevate his game just a little more.
I knew Nadal could and I knew he would maintain his ranking. I had confidence that he would do what he often does; realize that he needed to switch up his technique when it was not working in order to win. Kudos to Nadal – you are awesome!