At 30 years of age, the Spaniard 14-time major winner showed he is still as agile as old as he raced towards the baseline to retrieve a tricky lob shot by the Russian and returned a flighted pick-up of his own, through his legs, i.e. the celebrated tweener move.
He momentarily lost grip on his racket but steadied himself to win the point deep into the third set in front of a delighted New York crowd.
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Nadal went on to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2013 – the year of his last New York title – with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win.
“Andrey is always a tough opponent, he returns well and has good shots from the baseline,” said fourth seed Nadal who faces France’s Lucas Pouille for a quarter-final slot.
“I had a fantastic first set, a little trouble with my serve in the second but the third was key so I’m very happy.”
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