World number one Rafael Nadal saved a match point and rallied to defeat France's Julien Benneteau 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the three million-dollar ATP Cincinnati Masters
World number one Rafael Nadal saved a match point and rallied to defeat France's Julien Benneteau 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the three million-dollar ATP Cincinnati Masters.
The reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion won for the 36th time in his past 38 matches but was on the verge of being ousted in the tie-breaker.
"A match like this gives me a lot of confidence," Nadal said. "It's important for everything. A match point? Yeah. I am doing this well. I am playing aggressive. But I need to do better the next few days."
World number two Roger Federer, fourth-ranked Briton Andy Murray and Serbian second seed Novak Djokovic also advanced.
The four top seeds reached the semi-finals last week at Toronto, a feat that could be repeated in Cincinnati.
Nadal was given all he could handle by Benneteau, who broke Nadal twice to take the first set and nearly stopped the Spaniard in the 12th game of the second set before the top seed reached the tie-breaker.
"It wasn't easy for sure," Nadal said. "Julien played a good match. At the beginning he played at a high level. I made a few mistakes. I have to keep improving."
