London July 8 (IANS) Rafael Nadal defeated big-serving Karen Khachanov in straight sets to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon here on Friday.
The 10-time French Open champion fired 41 winners to beat the Russian 6-1 6-4 7-6 (3) on Centre Court to move into the last 16 for the first time since 2014 Xinhua news agency reported
"For a while I played fantastic in the first set and a half it was a great level " Nadal said. "Then it was a little bit tougher."
Nadal reduced the powerful 21-year-old to a mere bystander in the first 30 minutes of the match moving energetically on the grass on a sweltering late afternoon.
It took Khachanov ranked number 34 in the world half an hour to get a service hold on the board in the first game of the second set.
The Russian managed to find his form in the third set forcing it into a tie-break but made three unforced errors to see the chance slip off his hand.
"I played some good shots from the forehand and the backhand " said Nadal. "Happy with almost everything. But in the third I started to play a little bit shorter."
Since losing the 2011 final to Novak Djokovic Nadal has been knocked out before the quarterfinals for four straight years by a player ranked outside of the top 100. He missed Wimbledon last year with a wrist injury.
--IANS
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