Rafael Nadal registered a hard-fought win over Nick Kyrgios to book his place in the quarter-finals
Rafael Nadal said that he was feeling nervous when he was 5-4 up in the fourth set after his fourth-round singles win over Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open on Monday.
Nadal who overcame local boy and Australian Kyrgios 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 was talking about his game to journalists during a post-match press conference.
When asked by a reporter if it was the pressure that put him down in the fourth set or was it just himself, Nadal did not shy away from responding and said that the nerves had got the better of him.
“Rafa you said you played a scary 5-4 in the fourth set. Was it down to you or was it the pressure that put you down?” the reporter was heard asking the 33-year old.
“No, I played a bad game. That is true. I was playing great with my serve, winning all the games with every positive feeling and in the 5-4, like everybody else I get a little bit more nerves. Nervous at that moment,” the Spaniard replied.
Humble Nadal keeps on going
Nadal and Kyrgios had to battle it out for a place in the quarterfinals with the latter giving his everything to rival his higher-ranked opponent.
However, despite feeling the pressure briefly at that moment Nadal bounced back to win tie-breakers and eventually emerge the winner.
“I am enough humble to accept that sometimes I am nervous and I can have mistakes and that’s what happened in the 5-4. But I keep going because in the next game I have 15-40, so I was not able to achieve the break,
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“After 5-4, I played a bad game with my serve but at 6-5, you need to forget and I still felt close to victory and that I need to play with the right determination till the end of the set. I can lose, I can win, but not play with more nerves than what I should. I did it already once, I don’t want to repeat that and I think I did it.”
Nadal doesn’t have an easy clash in the quarter-final as he faces Dominic Thiem next.
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