Nadal, 34, disposed of the Italian 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to set up a meeting with the fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek progressed after ninth seed Matteo Berrettini withdrew from their fourth round match due to a stomach injury.
“Every match, when you go on court against a great player like Fabio, you’ve got to worry every moment,” said Nadal after clinching his 13th victory over Fognini in 17 matches.
“But at the same time you can’t expect to go on court and not have problems during the match, facing these kinds of players.”
When you reach your 4️⃣3️⃣rd Grand Slam quarterfinal 🙌@RafaelNadal | #AO2021 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/59xQYuFCfl
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 15, 2021
Battle
Nadal claimed the first set after 46 minutes when a Fognini forehand service return flew long.
But after breaking to lead 4-2, Fognini could not maintain his advantage. Rather than edging 5-3 ahead, he lost his service and allowed Nadal to come back to 4-4.
Worse followed for the Italian. He squandered three consecutive break points in the following game as Nadal dug in and held to lead 5-4.
Luck
“I don’t think I played a good game when he broke me,” said the Spaniard.
“I was lucky to get the break back immediately and then I saved three break points when I was 3-4 down – that was the key.
"I was a little bit lucky to get to 5-4 and serve for the set.”
Nadal, seeking a record 21st Grand Slam singles title, feasted on his good fortune and served out to love to take a two set lead.
In the third round at the 2015 US Open, Nadal held a similar advantage and Fognini famously turned the match on its head.
There was no repeat performance nearly six years on. It was one way traffic in the third as Nadal eased into his 13th Australian Open quarter-final.
