By Erik Gudris | Sunday, January 25, 2015

 

Rafael Nadal fought back against Kevin Anderson to secure a straight sets win putting him into the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Photo Credit: Corleve

Rafael Nadal still doesn't think that he's a favorite to win this year's Australian Open. Yet the former champion took another step in doing so by entering the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Australian Open: Bouchard Beats Begu to Reach Quarters

For at least ten games in the opening set, Nadal appeared to have a tough fourth round on his hands against No. 14 seed Kevin Anderson. In their first meeting in nearly five years, Anderson proved the shaper player early.

Anderson, who dropped only one point on his serve, soon found himself holding 0-40 on Nadal's serve at 5-all. The third seeded Nadal stepped it up though with aggressive serving that included a serve and volley down break point. Nadal leveled at 5-all putting the pressure back on Anderson.

That pressure, and the lost opportunity, got the better of Anderson as he served for a tiebreak. Two forehand errors culminated into a set point for Nadal. Anderson then botched a volley to hand Nadal the set 7-5.

From there, Nadal raced away with the second set by changing his return position further behind the baseline to handle Anderson's serve better. Nadal kept up his momentum and found himself up an early break in the third. Though Anderson recovered his game a little, it wasn't enough to prevent Nadal from eventually serving out the 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Nadal struck 33 winners and 25 unforced errors compared to 21 winners and 26 unforced from Anderson.

Speaking to ESPN's Pam Shriver later, Nadal said that this was his best match so far in the event though he still feels he needs improvement.

Nadal on his change in return strategy added, "I try to go in the beginning a little more aggressive and then later if its not working go behind and play more defensive because the chance to play from defensive to aggressive is much more difficult. I understand at the end of that first set I needed to put the balls inside to make him feel more pressure."

Next up for Nadal is a familiar foe in No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych. The big serving Czech handled Australia's Bernard Tomic 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-2.

Nadal currently owns a 17-match win streak over Berdych. Yet Berdych has yet to drop a set all event and is playing inspired tennis. So why has Nadal had the edge over Berdych for so long?

"Because I play very well," Nadal said about the upcoming match. "I was close to losing to him a few times. He's a regular player. A fantastic player. Top player for six, seven years. So the only way to have a chance against him is playing aggressive and play well."