Tennis: Nadal crushes fiery Fognini to reach Australian Open quarter-finals
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Rafa Nadal held steady and counter-punched brilliantly to avoid a longer scrap at a sunbathed Rod Laver Arena.
PHOTO: AFP
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MELBOURNE (REUTERS) - Rafa Nadal threw a blanket over the fire of Fabio Fognini to cruise into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win on Monday (Feb 15).
Facing the man who dumped him from the 2015 US Open, second seed Nadal held steady against the fierce hitting of the flamboyant Italian and counter-punched brilliantly to avoid a longer scrap at a sunbathed Rod Laver Arena.
The score suggested otherwise, but it was a quality 136-minute workout for Nadal, who had to rally from 4-2 down in the second set to put the match on his terms.
From there, the momentum was all the Spaniard's as Nadal roared through the final set to fix up a clash with either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Matteo Berrettini.
