Rafael Nadal cruised into the fourth round of the Australian Open with another straight set win over Lukas Lacko.
If Rafael Nadal could take anything of Roger Federer's, the Spanish world No.2 says he'd take the Swiss ace's serve.
Today though, the Nadal serve worked just fine – he landed 81 per cent of first serves – as he swept aside the lone remaining qualifier in the men's singles draw, Lukas Lacko.
"For sure he had better matches than this one," said Lacko after the loss. "Today he was not missing … he was so solid from both sides, so focused."
The 6-2 6-4 6-1 straight-sets win is Nadal's third in a row and sets up a fourth-round encounter with either big-serving American John Isner or fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round.
"The match was a really complete match, a really solid one. Very happy about my game," said Nadal.
"I am playing well. If you are playing well, things can be a little bit less difficult. If you are playing bad, every match will be very, very difficult, no?"
And while the tennis world's gaze has been momentarily distracted by a series of unexpected events this week, Nadal has slipped quietly into the fourth round, flying ever so stealthily under the radar.
That, in a way, is a story all of its own – for once the Nadal–Federer rivalry isn’t dominating the headlines as it usually does at the majors.
Don't get me wrong – these two still form the backbone of the tennis narrative, but this week some compelling sub-plots have bumped the Federer and Nadal show from prime time to the midday timeslot.
These sub-plots include Bernard Tomic's continued development, Sam Stosur's shock loss in the opening round, the waiting game on the women's No.1 spot and whether or not Novak Djokovic can replicate his stunning 2011 season.
For Nadal this is a good outcome. It gives the polite but private Spaniard some breathing space and the luxury of focusing on one thing – tennis.
"I played both matches, three matches at very good level. Today was one of the best, solid, without mistakes, comfortable with the serve, having good return," he said.
And this pretty much sums up the match. Lacko fired most of his bullets in the first set, breaking Nadal in the second game before being broken straight back. It would be the world No.119's only break for the match, but he did have four more chances.
Nadal, however, was not as forgiving. Not only did the Spaniard create more break-point opportunities for himself, 12 in total, but he converted six of them.
His serve worked well and apart from a mis-firing off-forehand early in the first set, the rest of his game was in good order.
After the match he spoke about his knee – "the knee is fine" – but mainly he talked about how happy he is with the way he has played this week and how his level is improving with each match. Something that his next opponent will not want to hear.
"Being in [the] fourth round without losing a set, it's fantastic news," he grinned.
To be honest, based on today's form, Rafael Nadal doesn't need to borrow anything from Roger Federer – everything he has is just fine.
