Tennis: Nadal battles back to down Dimitrov
Rafael Nadal battled back from a break down in the final set to beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
BASEL (AFP) - Third-seeded Rafael Nadal battled back from a break down in the final set to defeat Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the Swiss Indoors quarter-finals.
But second seed Stan Wawrinka suffered his eighth first round loss at the tournament as the French Open champion slumped to a 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 defeat to Ivo Karlovic.
Nadal won the opening set against Dimitrov but dropped the second after leading 4-2.
When he dropped serve in the opening game of the third set on a double-fault, the situation looked grim for the Spaniard.
But the 14-time major winner broke back for 5-3 with a winning overhead, serving out the tight victory a game later after more than two hours on court.
"This was another very tough match, I had to fight," said Nadal. "But to win this way was fantastic.
"I m very happy to be in the quarter-finals. Winning like this gives me confidence after my second important win this week."
Nadal next faces either Marin Cilic or Teimuraz Gabashvili for a semi-final spot.
Karlovic, the 36-year-old Croatian, sent down 21 aces to take victory over Wawrinka after trailing a set and a break.
"I had a poor first set and was missing a lot with my volleys," said Karlovic.
"But I began improving in the second set and got a bit lucky when I converted my break points (in the sixth game at 3-3). After that, things started going my way."
Karlovic, who had lost five of six previous meetings with Wawrinka, next plays Serbia s Dusan Lajovic.
Wawrinka was disappointed to have let it slip away.
"It s never easy to lose a match like that, especially since I felt I was playing well and feeling good. I had my chances to take control of the match," said the Swiss.
"After the first set, everything was good, I was playing well. I played really good for two sets, more or less. I had a few mistakes, but it can happen.
"He s playing his best year so far, he s improved his game a lot. He serves amazing and you don t get many chances. Today I got my chances and didn t take them."
Elsewhere in the opening round, fourth seed Kevin Anderson advanced over Croatian teenager Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 while seventh seed and last weekend s Moscow champion Cilic beat Basel native Marco Chiudinelli 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
South Africa s Anderson sent down 29 winners, improving his record in the best season of his career to 45-22.
Jack Sock won an American battle with Denis Kudla 6-4, 6-2 and next faces countryman John Isner, the sixth seed.
Russia s Gabashvili stopped Argentina Leonardo Mayer 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
In the second round, 2014 finalist David Goffin made the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Adrian Mannarino.
