Nadal

Second seed Rafael Nadal took another step forward in his bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam on Monday by booking his spot in the Wimbledon ...

A wild forehand saw Nadal suffer his first break at the start of the third. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Rafael Nadal survived a late fightback to move into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon following a straight sets win over Botic van de Zandschulp.

Wimbledon "Until the end when I played a bad game at 5-2 when it had been a very positive match. Wimbledon

From four-set wins in his opening two rounds, Nadal has followed that up with two victories in straight sets – up next, though, a man who hasn't dropped a ...

It’s going to be a tough match, but we’re in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon so what can I expect,” Nadal added. A slip added to Nadal’s woes, particularly with it coming when he would have rather been back in the changing room. “He’s playing well.

Spaniard eased to a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory and set up a quarter-final clash with his conquerer at Indian Wells in March, Taylor Fritz.

Taylor Fritz, the 11th seed, is yet to drop a set in this tournament, reaching his first career grand slam quarter-final by defeating Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. But Nadal and Djokovic are still here, rolling through the draw, determined to write another page in the sport’s history books. None of those improvements served him particularly well in the face of the pressure and intensity from Nadal early on. On Monday, Nadal was extremely efficient against a challenging opponent until nerves struck as he served for the match, but he pulled himself together to seal the win. “I think, till the end, until I played a bad game at 5-3, it has been a very positive match against a difficult opponent. He reached the quarter‑finals with his 18th grand slam match win in a row after a high‑class performance, outplaying Botic van de Zandschulp, the 21st seed, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (6).