Rafael Nadal moved into the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Monday, beating No. 21 Botic van de Zandschulp of The Netherlands, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(6) in the fourth round. The 36-year-old Spaniard, who has won the first two legs of the calendar Grand Slam for the first time in his career, is now 18-0 in majors this season.
Nadal will next face American Taylor Fritz on Wednesday, after Fritz advanced to his first career quarterfinal. Nadal and Fritz are 1-1 head-to-head, and this will be their first meeting on grass. Nadal is 7-0 in Wimbledon quarterfinals. Nadal said of Fritz: “He’s playing well, he’s having an amazing year, winning a first Masters 1000, against me by the way in the finals so, yeah, gonna be a tough match but we are in quarterfinals of Wimbledon so what can I expect?”
The winner of the Nadal-Fritz match could potentially meet up with Nick Kyrgios in the semifinals. Kyrgios advanced to his first major quarterfinal in seven years by beating 20-year-old American Brandon Nakashima in five sets. The Australian Kyrgios next faces Cristian Garin of Chile in the quarters. Said Kyrgio: “In 2019 my agent had to come get me out of a pub at 4:00 AM before I played Nadal. This year I have a different mindset. I’ve come a long way, that’s for sure.”
Top seed and three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic will face No. 10 seeded Jannik Sinner on Tuesday; Sinner defeated No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz in four sets Sunday. Djokovic has said he has added motivation to win his fourth straight Wimbledon because he is not currently permitted in the U.S. to play the U.S. Open because he is not vaccinated against Covid-19.
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