MELBOURNE (AFP) – Rafael Nadal hailed Alex de Minaur as ”one of the best in the world” but still showed the teenager the Australian Open door 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round on Friday.
The relentless Spanish 17-time Grand Slam champion dragged the 19-year-old Australian 27th seed over every inch of Rod Laver Arena as he romped to victory in 2hr 22min.
Second seed Nadal will face unseeded Czech former world number four Tomas Berdych for a place in the quarter-finals.
