Rafael Nadal beat Mikhail Youzhny · 2007-07-06 15:38
Rafael Nadal beat Mikhail Youzhny in five sets Thursday to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Nadal, the 2006 runner-up, picked up early service breaks in each of the final three sets to win 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
"After the first two sets, the next three sets maybe I play my best game on grass in my life," Nadal said.
Play was suspended for the day with four-time defending champion Roger Federer and No. 20 Juan Carlos Ferrero still in the first set of their quarterfinal. Federer was serving at deuce at 5-5.
No. 3 Andy Roddick and No. 12 Richard Gasquet took the court to warm up but never started.
Youzhny, one of only three players to have beaten Nadal twice in the last year, struggled midway through his match with lower-back pain.
He called for a trainer after losing the third set. Lying on his stomach, the Russian got his back massaged. After the fifth game of the fourth set, he was again on the ground, with the trainer stretching his back, Houston Chronicle informs.
Nadal's third-round match, which was supposed to begin Saturday, didn't finish until Wednesday. The three-time French Open champion failed to convert his first match point Monday, and had to wait until Wednesday to get another because of rain delays.
Nadal is trying to become the first man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Bjorn Borg in 1980.
"With every win you improve the confidence on every surface," Nadal said. "But especially if you are playing like today."
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