Updates: Nadal, Kyrgios Locked In Third Set

Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios are locked at 6-3, 3-6 on Monday night at Rod Laver Arena.

The top seed made a rapid start in the opening match of the evening session, breaking Kyrgios en route to a 4-1 lead. Nadal covered the baseline well, with Kyrgios failing in his attempts to shorten points as the errors mounted. The Spaniard began to dictate rallies with his forehand as the set progressed and held serve to love after 36 minutes to move into a one-set lead.

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After saving three break points in the opening game of the second set, Kyrgios raised his level. The Aussie took advantage of forehand errors to earn his first break point of the match, which he converted with a forehand passing shot that clipped the baseline. From that point, Kyrgios won 12 of 15 service points to level the match.

The World No. 1, who is aiming to lift his second Australian Open title, leads Kyrgios 4-3 in their ATP Head2Head series. But Kyrgios owns a 2-1 advantage in hard-court matches.

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The winner will face Dominic Thiem for a place in the semi-finals. Last year's Nitto ATP Finals runner-up needed just one hour and 50 minutes to reach his first quarter-final at the opening Grand Slam of the year, defeating Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2O20w0u