Australian Open 2018: Still work to do for Rafael Nadal but victory ensures he will remain world no 1

Rafael Nadal still has much work to do if he is to win his second Australian Open title but the 31-year-old Spaniard guaranteed here on Sunday that he will retain his position as world No 1 come the end of the fortnight.

Nadal dropped his first set of the tournament in grinding out a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Diego Schwartzman to secure a quarter-final meeting with Marin Cilic, but there were times when he was unable to stamp his authority on the match.

Schwartzman, a 25-year-old Argentinian who stands just 5ft 7in tall, provided stern resistance, particularly in the second set as he recovered from a break down on three occasions. Nadal, who saved 15 of the 18 break points he had to defend, laboured for three hours and 51 minutes before securing his place in the quarter-finals for the tenth time.

“You can't expect easy matches when you're playing in big tournaments against good players,” Nadal said afterwards. “It was a tough match in general terms. I missed opportunities in the second set, when I was up a break three times. If you lose that many chances you're in trouble.

“But he played well and he played aggressive. He did a lot of things well and I didn't play as aggressive as I had in the last couple of days. That's why I was suffering more. The conditions out there were not easy this afternoon as well. It was very humid.”

Nadal added: “The third set was a great set to win, being honest. My serve started to work much better after the second. I started to win some free points again with the serve, because for a set and a half almost I didn't win a free point with my serve. That was not good news during that part of the match.”

open image in gallery

Nadal said he could not remember having played such a physically demanding match since he beat Leonardo Mayer in the third round en route to his US Open title last year. “I prefer to win in two hours than in four, but to be honest moments like this help you to be more confident in yourself, in your body,” he said.

“I played with determination, and that's what I’m going to need. I’m also going to need to serve well. I'm going to need to play with more determination with my forehand.”

Roger Federer, the defending champion, is now the only man left in the tournament who has yet to drop a set. However, even if he retains his title the 36-year-old Swiss cannot replace Nadal at the top of the rankings.

Since Cilic beat Nadal in their first meeting nine years ago the Croatian has lost to the Spaniard five times and won only one set in the process. However, the world No 6 is in good form here as he showed in beating Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6.

“Throughout my career I’ve known that if I'm playing well, if I'm at the top of my game, that I can challenge most of the guys on the tour,” Cilic said. “With my win at the US Open [in 2014], that became stronger. I believe in my own game, I believe in what I'm doing. I think I'm moving in the right direction.”