MELBOURNE, Australia-Rafael Nadal fulfilled a vow not to lose another five-set match as the Spaniard gutted out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Alexander Zverev on Saturday to power into the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The 2009 champion had gone down in the fifth to Lucas Pouille at the U.S. Open and lost to Fernando Verdasco in Melbourne a year ago in the first round, which also went the full distance.
With the teenaged Zverev cramping in the closing moments, Nadal got to work as he concluded a victory in just over four hours by winning the last four games.
"I was fighting and running a lot," Nadal, 30, said. "We all know how good he is, he's the future of our sport.
"It was a tough match for me, I didn't start the best. But after losing the third-set tiebreaker I told myself just to fight for every point and forget about the result."
Dominic Thiem ignored a right shoulder problem and multiple broken serves to reach the second week for the first time, beating Benoit Paire 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Thiem, the eighth seed carved out victory over Paire in two and a half hours, coming back after being broken three times in the fourth set and advancing on a third match point.
He was also given quick massages during changeovers as he worked to close out victory. He is the first Austrian to reach the Melbourne round of 16 since Juergen Melzer in 2011
"It was a very intense match; I had (an) amazing start," Thiem said. "In the second set he raised his level. The fourth set was crazy, you don't get broken three times in men's tennis and still win the set.
"I never gave up, maybe I was a little scared of a fifth set and I raised my game."
Denis Istomin, who upset title holder Novak Djokovic in the second round, kept up the momentum run as he put out Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
In women's play, Serena Williams rolled over Nicole Gibbs 6-1, 6-3 and Ekaterina Makarova held off a charge from former finalist Dominika Cibulkova to win 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3.
British ninth seed Johanna Konta advanced past former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-1.