The Australian Open will enter matchday 5 on 21 January, with No. 6 seed Nadal playing against 28th seed Khachanov in the finale of rodravol stadium on this matchday. This match is Nadal's first time this year against the world's top 50 players, can Nadal continue to soar on the road to the 21st Grand Slam title?
Nadal experienced a long period of recuperation last year, and since losing the French Open semi-final, he has only made a brief comeback in Washington for 2 games, but the results have not been ideal. After a nearly six-month hiatus, Nadal made a strong comeback at the start of the season, earning his 89th career title in Melbourne in the first week of the season, setting a new record for 19 consecutive years of tour titles.
At the Australian Open this week, Nadal eliminated American Geelong in the first round, and in the second round he also won in three straight sets, beating German qualifier Hanfmann. After winning these two matches, Nadal's Australian Open wins have reached 71, second only to Federer's 102 wins and Djokovic's 82 wins.
Khachanov finished runners-up at Adelaide in the first week of the season and went on to compete in the quarterfinals the following week. After coming to the Australian Open, Khachanov did not perform at his best in the first two rounds of the game, losing one set against the world number 105 Kudra in the first round, and winning three straight sets against the Frenchman Bunch in the second round.
Nadal and Khachanov have met a total of seven times before, and Nadal has won all seven of these games. In these 7 games, Nadal has only let his opponents get one set. The two's most recent meeting was to chase the 2019 Davis Cup, when Nadal lost two straight sets to beat his opponent.
The match will be played at 18:00 Beijing time on January 21, when CCTV5+ will broadcast the match live. Can Nadal keep going on his way to a double-lap Grand Slam? Will Khachanov beat Nadal for the first time in his career? Fans who support both players remember to keep an eye on the game on time.