Rafael Nadal produced a serving masterclass to ease past No.27 seed Pablo Carreno Busta and reach the fourth round of the Australian Open for the 13th time in his career, and fourth straight year, on Saturday.
The top seed, who is gunning for a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title this fortnight, conceded just five points on serve through his opening two sets, fired nine aces and zero double faults en route to a 6-1 6-2 6-4 success over Carreno Busta.
He next faces the winner of the clash between Nick Kyrgios and Karen Khachanov, who square off later on Saturday at Melbourne Arena.
Nadal extended his winning streak against fellow Spaniards to 18 consecutive victories – he hasn’t lost to a compatriot in four years – and is now 5-0 against Carreno Busta.
He was aggressive throughout the contest, hitting 42 winners and winning 11/12 points at the net.
“Had been my best match of the tournament so far, without a doubt, so that’s a very positive thing. Sorry for Pablo who is a good friend of mine. I wish him all the best for the rest of the season,” said Nadal on court.
“I think today I did very well with my serve. And then I started to hit some very good forehands down the line, and that’s the key shot for me.”
Nadal was asked by John McEnroe if he followed Roger Federer’s five-set thriller against John Millman the night before, which the Swiss won in a final-set tiebreak.
“I saw until 1 o’clock, was impossible to sleep watching the match,” said Nadal.
“It was very emotional at the end, I enjoyed it.
“Millman is a fighter, seems like he never stops running, and he has a smile on his face with positive attitude throughout the whole match, he has great character on court I think."
The 33-year-old Nadal, a champion in Melbourne in 2009, drew first blood, breaking in game two en route to a 3-0 lead. The Mallorcan was swiftly up a set, during which he dropped just three points on serve – all on his first serve, zero on his second.
Another early break saw Nadal take command of the second set. The world No.1 didn’t drop a point on his second serve up until the last game of that set, and was up 6-1, 6-2 inside 56 minutes.
A break in the fifth game gave Nadal the edge in the third set and he wrapped up the victory in 98 minutes.
The Spaniard’s bid to become the first man in the Open era to win each of the four majors at least twice remains alive, but a tricky last-16 showdown could be in the cards against either Kyrgios or Khachanov.
“Both players are great players,” Nadal said on court.
“Nick always is excited to play here at home and Karen is a player with great potential. I’m going to be watching, enjoying a good tennis match between two of the best players in the world.”
“So you’re saying you’d rather play Kyrgios,” McEnroe asked.
“I don’t, but if it goes that way, I hope to be ready for it,” responded Nadal.