Rafael Nadal's quest for a 21st Grand Slam championship continues with a straight-sets win over German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann; the sixth seed will now face Karen Khachanov or Benjamin Bonzi.
Rafael Nadal cruised through German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann to keep his hopes alive for a record-tying 21st Grand Slam championship. On Rod Laver Arena, the German qualifier put up a good fight, saving four match points, but Nadal took his fifth opportunity to win 6-2 6-3 6-4 after two hours and 42 minutes.
After winning the championship over a decade ago in 2009, Nadal is the only past champion still in the men's draw at Melbourne Park. Nadal's only prior match with the 126th-ranked Hanfmann was on Roland Garros clay in 2019 when he won in straight sets with only six games dropped.
On a windy day at the Rod Laver Arena, the 30-year-old German played marginally better, but it wasn't enough to worry Nadal, who smashed 30 winners and broke his opponent's service four times while saving both break points he faced.
When Hanfmann fired a forehand long, Nadal needed five match points to win the victory. For a spot in the fourth round, the sixth seed will face either Russian Karen Khachanov or French Benjamin Bonzi.
With a 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-1 victory against American Stefan Kozlov, seventh seed Matteo Berrettini advanced to the third round despite a little glitch in the second set.
After a 6-2 6-1 7-5 thrashing of Dusan Lajovic, the Italian will play 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who became the youngest man to reach the third round at Melbourne Park since Bernard Tomic in 2011.