MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal swept into the Australian Open third round to keep his Grand Slam title hunt on track yesterday, as Caroline Wozniacki and Grigor Dimitrov pulled off great escapes to stay in contention.
The world number one Spaniard’s march towards a 17th Grand Slam crown was never threatened by Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, who took him to a third set tiebreak before being swatted aside 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) on Rod Laver Arena.
“Playing this court is always a big motivation for me,” said Nadal, who lost last year’s final to Roger Federer.
“He was a dangerous opponent and I’m happy to be in the third round.
“For my team and my family, this is our favourite tournament of the year, so I hope to stay around a bit longer,” he added.
Nadal, showing no signs of the troublesome knee that bothered him late last season and interrupted his Melbourne lead-up, next plays Bosnian 28th seed Damir Dzumhur.
Surprisingly, he was not the prime time men’s night match on centre court, with that honour going to third seed Dimitrov, who survived a huge scare from unheralded qualifier Mackenzie McDonald.
The Bulgarian needed to call on all his experience to down the 186th-ranked American 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6.
“I’m very happy with the win, not because the way I played, but because the way I fought,” said Dimitrov. “It all came down to a few points here and there.”
Improved
“He has improved so much. I just had to fight and the experience in the end really helped me,” Dimitrov said.
The stylish Bulgarian claimed the biggest title of his career when he beat Belgium’s David Goffin in the ATP Finals in London among his four titles for the year.
But he has never been beyond the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, reaching the last four at Wimbledon in 2014 and in Melbourne last year.
McDonald, 22, was making only his second appearance at a Grand Slam after his debut at the 2016 US Open.
On a hot Melbourne day, Croatia’s sixth seed Marin Cilic advanced, with last year’s Wimbledon finalist easily beating Joao Sousa 6-1, 7-5, 6-2.
US Open semi-finalist and 10th seed Pablo Carreno-Busta also went through after French veteran Gilles Simon retired injured when trailing 6-2, 3-0.
And fighting former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga saw off rising Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov in a five-set thriller.
Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios’s new-found focus remained intact despite a night of distractions as the fiery home favourite outplayed Serbia’s Viktor Troicki to reach the third round without conceding a set.
The 17th seed dealt with a bellowing fan, a malfunctioning umpire’s microphone and was distracted by a helicopter early in the second set but remained in firm control to claim an impressive 7-5 6-4 7-6(2) victory.