Rafael Nadal slugged his way into the Wimbledon last-16 with a bruising dismissal of Russian 30th seed Karen Khachanov on Friday.
Nadal’s 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(3) win against Khachanov on Centre Court equalled the Spaniard’s personal record of 28 successive sets won at Grand Slams, a blistering streak dating back to this year’s Australian Open final.
World No 2 Nadal is in formidable form heading into only his second fourth round appearance in his last five visits to Wimbledon.
He will face 16th seed Gilles Muller for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I played fantastic for a set and a half but it got tougher after that. He started to hit stronger so I was happy to get through in three sets,” said Nadal, the champion in 2008 and 2010.
He will take a 5-1 lead over Muller into their fourth round match, but Nadal will be wary of a man who beat him at Wimbledon 12 years ago.
“He’s a very tough opponent, grass is his specialist surface,” said the Spaniard.
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