Nadal sees off Basilashvili to reach U.S. Open quarters

“He will have his chances in the future without a doubt”, Nadal said. It was question of little bit of luck at the end, and was for me.

“I needed to move forward, to change that dynamic, and I did”. “I’m feeling really good”.

Thiem opened his tournament in NY by thrashing Sofia champion Mirza Basic 6-3 6-1 6-4.

Kevin Anderson won’t get a second shot at Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open. “Have been a very tough start for me. So I didn’t face one break point, and I didn’t feel so much pressure on service games”.

It meant the Spaniard avoided following world No.2 Roger Federer, who surprisingly lost to world No.55 John Millman Monday, out of the competition.

After barely getting through a almost 4 1/2-hour test in the third round, and having tape wrapped under his right knee, too, defending champion Rafael Nadal tries to get back to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows by beating 37th-ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili.

“Against Rafa, I’ve had three very nice experiences and seven disgusting experiences”, said Thiem who turned 25 on Monday. “I thought he defended amazingly”, said Wimbledon runner-up Anderson.

Thiem told reporters that his positioning on the court inside the newly-built Louis Armstrong Stadium was critical.

“He has a great attitude and is a great fighter”.

Williams finished with 18 aces and 47 total winners.

“Yeah, it’s going to be stuck in my mind forever”, Thiem said after the match. “I’m going to remember this match, for sure”, Thiem said. “On clay, I think it’s one of the biggest challenges in sports to beat this guy. But there has to be one”.

Later Sunday, 2009 champion and Argentine third seed Del Potro will look to make the quarter-finals for the sixth time when he faces Croatia’s Borna Coric under the Arthur Ashe lights.

Thiem reached his first quarterfinal at any Grand Slam besides the French Open. He has now won seven U.S. Open quarterfinals in a row when he’s made it that far; his only loss in that round came back in 2006.

He said: “I have my trophy at home”. But, as in the second set, when the time came to keep his foot on Nadal’s throat, he instead loosened the pressure and lived to regret it.

Thiem held on for the tie-break, where another unexpected Nadal error, this time a short forehand into the net, sent the match into a deciding set.

After Nadal roared back to take a 2-1 lead, the fourth set went to a tiebreak. Nadal beat del Potro last year in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows, and again this year in the semifinals of the French Open.

Nadal praised the 26-year-old Basilashvili, who will break into the top 30 for the first time when the new rankings are released after the tournament. That win should build confidence for Thiem as he takes on the tournament’s number one ranked player.