Wimbledon 2017: Rafael Nadal blows away rising star Karen Khachanov to book his spot in the fourth round
The two-time champion won 6-1 6-4 7-6(3) on Centre Court
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Your support makes all the difference.Karen Khachanov may be regarded as one of tennis’ brightest young talents, but he has a way to go before he can compete with the likes of 15-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. The Russian was blown away at Wimbledon on Friday, with Nadal wrapping up an impressive 6-1 6-4 7-6(3) victory.
Nadal may have turned 31 at the beginning of last month, making him a full decade older than rising star Khachanov, but he burst out of the traps on Centre Court and had the first set wrapped up in just 22-minutes. He twice broke Khachanov at the start of the match and looked in the sort of form that saw him secure an unprecedented tenth Roland Garros title earlier this summer.
“For a set and a half I was playing fantastic,” Nadal commented after his win. “And then I became a little bit worst. But in general terms very well, very happy.”
Khachanov should take encouragement from the manner in which he grew into the match, even holding a set point against Nadal in the third. But an audacious drop shot winner saw Nadal edge away from danger, before he won the match when a shattered Khachanov belted a service return long.
“The way he started, he was returning all my serves and was putting a lot of pressure and hitting the forehand so hard,” a rather dazed looking Khachanov conceded afterwards. “So I didn't know where to go, where to move.
“And then in the second set I think I started to step in more. I tried to hit also more through, more harder, and I think he started to miss more. It became more open.”
Nadal, who is attempting to win his third Wimbledon title, will next play Gilles Muller, who ended the hopes of Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene earlier in the day.
And Nadal knows that Muller — a 34-year-old veteran with one of the most awkward serves on the tour — will pose an altogether different threat.
“He's one of the toughest opponents possible on this surface especially,” Nadal added. “It’s his best surface without a doubt. He has a great serve, a great volley. He play well from the baseline here.
“So yeah, he's a tough, tough opponent. At the same time we are in the round of 16. You cannot expect to have an easy opponents. So it is a very tough one because he played a lot on grass this year. Let’s see if I am amble to keep playing well.”
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