“My best match in the tournament… Easy to say that because the other day was tough. But, yeah, important improvement. But I need to keep going. It’s a good victory for me. Straight sets for the first time. Third set [was] a challenge. He increased the level,” Nadal said.
“I went through some difficult moments. That’s something that is good, that I went through that and [was] safe [in those] moments with positive feelings. Happy to be in the fourth round, without a doubt.”
His match with Fabio Fognini yesterday was punctuated by freak accident where Nadal’s racket hit the bridge of his nose and for a while he believed he had broken it.
Match Highlights:
He also did not have an easy time of it which led him to clarify that he was, “practicing much, much better than what I am playing”.
Gasquet and Nadal have a Head2Head record of 18 matches with a record of 18-0 in Nadal’s favor. The Frenchman holds the record for the most losses against the Spaniard.
Nadal will next face off against Frances Tiafoe who is coming off a win against Diego Schwartzman 7-(7), 6-4, 6-4.
Nadal and Tiafoe have a 2-0 ATP Head2Head record. He says that he is preparing for a match against Tiafoe and says he needs to raise his level.
“Second week against a great player like Frances, I need to be ready to play and to raise my level,” Nadal said.
“I hope to be able to make that happen. I know it’s the right moment to make an improvement if I want to keep having chances to keep going on the tournament.”