By Chris Oddo | Thursday November 4, 2015
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Photo Source: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
The spirited revival of Rafael Nadal continued in Paris on Thursday, as Nadal raised the roof and closed an entertaining evening of tennis at Bercy with a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 victory over Kevin Anderson, saving a match point in the process.
More: Djokovic Sets another Personal Best in Paris
Anderson, who hammered 20 aces in a stellar performance, didn’t blink often, but when he did an opportunistic Nadal was there to claim control of a very tense affair.
After Anderson cruised through the first set on the strength of a break in the third game, the pair marched in lockstep to a second-set tiebreaker through a very hard-fought set that featured zero break points.
In the breaker, both players succumbed to nerves for spells, and it looked like Anderson might emerge the winner when he earned a match point on Nadal’s serve after several trades of mini-breaks in the early goings.
But Nadal answered the bell, winning a protracted rally to save the match point for 6-6.
Nadal then took advantage of a poor decision by the South African at the end of another longish point, when Anderson volleyed right onto Nadal’s racquet when he had open court to play into.
Nadal would put away the easy volley for a clean winner and a 7-6 lead and claim the set when Anderson netted a backhand on the next point.
With momentum in his favor, Nadal broke Anderson in the opening game of the third set, but he wasn’t out of the woods yet. He would have to battle through a marathon fourth game, saving six break points in the process, before the match really swung in his favor.
The Spaniard would break again for insurance to take a 5-2 lead, and he served the match out to love to book his spot in the quarterfinals.
Nadal, who is the only player on the ATP Tour to win 25 matches on both clay and hard courts this season, notched his 58th win of the season against 18 losses.
He will face Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. Nadal owns a 13-2 lifetime edge over Wawrinka, but the pair have split two battles this year.