20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal is championing the race of contenders to clinch the Australian Open this year. The Spaniard, who won the Melbourne Summer Set event in his comeback, defeated Adrian Mannarino in straight sets to reach the quarters, where he will meet the young Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

Shapovalov, who meet no.3 seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round, didn’t face any kind of resistance from the German during their encounter. After winning the first set, Shapovalov’s confidence only improved as he comprehensively defeated Zverev in straight sets.

Rafael Nadal not surprised by Alexander Zverev’s loss to Denis Shapovalov at the Australian Open

Right from the start of the tournament, fans and pundits were anticipating a Nadal-Zverev quarter-final matchup. When Nadal was asked during his post-match interview whether he was surprised to see Denis defeating Zverev, the Spaniard shared his opinion over the whole match-up.

“Surprised by Zverev? Not that much. He was a bit favorite probably because of his ranking, but was not a clear favorite. I don’t know if Sascha played well or not. Surprise? Very little. Honestly, no, it was not a clear match at all.”

Despite hitting more double faults, Shapovalov did exceedingly well on serve against the tall German. As expected, the Canadian was aggressive from the baseline and ripped off winners from both the wings. Even though Zverev was the higher ranked player, his record in slams over the years isn’t extra-ordinary.

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Nadal will face stiff competition from Denis Shapovalov in the quarters

For Alexander Zverev to witness success in majors, it’s imperative that he produces an impactful performance over the likes of his peers and give himself a better chance of defeating Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. With Zverev’s exit, Nadal will now meet Denis Shapovalov in the last eight at the Australian Open.

Looking at the head-to-head between Nadal and Shapovalov, the duo faced off against each other four times on the ATP tour with the Spaniard winning three out of them. The young Canadian notched up a victory when he first came to the limelight at the 2017 Montreal Masters.

It will be a tricky contest for Denis Shapovalov considering Nadal’s dominance over him in their earlier meetings. But, the Canadian has shown significant improvement on the big stage and will give stiff competition to Rafael Nadal at the ‘happy slam’ on Tuesday.

Also read: ‘Terrible Drop Shot’: Rafael Nadal Rates His First-Set Tiebreaker Against Adrian Mannarino at Australian Open 2022