Rafael Nadal survives Marin Cilic scare to reach US Open quarter-final

Nadal will next lock horns with Argentina's Diego Schwartzman for a place in the semi-final of the US Open.

Image Credits: Reuters

World number two Rafael Nadal bounced back from a set down against Crotian tennis player Marin Cilic to book his place in the quarter-final of the prestigious tournament at the Flushing Meadows on Tuesday. 

After comfortably winning the opening set, the Spanish tennis maestro failed to capitalise on the same and went down in the second. He, however, made amendments and rebounded strongly to eventually seal a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over 2014 titlist in a thrilling fourth-round clash of the men's singles event.

The match, which lasted for two hours and 49 minutes, saw Nadal smash 38 winners to making just 26 unforced errors besides winning 12 of the final 15 games. 

Reflecting on his win, Nadal was quoted by the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) as saying,"It’s easy to describe, but difficult to make. I don’t know, I think I followed the ball good because he had a good volley and I saw it, I ran fast to the ball and I saw at the last moment there would maybe be a small space on that side.I think it was the only way to win that point. I hit it well, but to hit that spot you need some luck."

Nadal has now made it to the quarter-finals of the US Open for the ninth time. He will next lock horns with Argentina's Diego Schwartzman, who too recovered from the first set down to seal a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 win over Germany's Alexander Zverev and reach the last-eight of the fourth major of the season. 

Notably, Nadal has won all seven of his ATP Head-to-Head meeting against Schwartzman.