MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — masigla ang crowd, higit at kabilang si Rafael Nadal sa kumikikig sa men’s single ng Australian Open.

Sa kabila ng injury sa kaliwang kamay, matikas ang 14-time Grand Slam winner sa pahirapang 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 panalo kontra German teenager Alexander Zverev para makausad sa fourth round.

Umabot sa apat na oras at anim na minuto ang laro, ngunit tila hindi nakadama ng pagod ang 30-anyos na Spaniard laban sa karibal na ipinapalagay na susunod na ‘tennis superstar’.

“I enjoyed a lot this great battle. I was losing the last couple of times in the fifth set and I said to myself, ‘Today’s the day,’” pahayag ng ninth-seeded na si Nadal.

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“Well, fighting — and running a lot. I think you know, everybody knows how good Alexander is. He’s the future of our sport and the present, too,” aniya.

Ito ng ika-15 GrandSlam match ng 19-anyos na si Zverev, ngunit hindi pa siya nakakalusot sa top 10 player na nakaharap.

“Now I’m disappointed, but I know that this was a great match,” aniya. “That was a great fight.

“He’s probably one of the fittest tennis players in the history of the game, so ... there are a lot of positives in this match.”

Naitala ni Nadal ang 43 winner at 34 unforced error.

Nagwagi rin si No. 22 Daria Gavrilova kontra 12th-seed Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, habang nakalusot si Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic kontra No.25 Gilles Simon, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3.

Sunod na makakaharap ni Nadal si U.S. Open semifinalist Gael Monfils, nagwagi kay Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-4.