Ever fond of routine and superstition, world No. 2 Rafael Nadal must have felt relieved to begin his fourth-round match against Philipp Kohlschreiber on time and on the scheduled court.  He must also have felt grateful to Kohlschreiber for upsetting towering American John Isner, a much more dangerous opponent for Nadal than the German who had lost 10 of their previous 11 meetings.

Still, Kohlschreiber had won a set in all five of his hard-court matches against the 2010 US Open champion, who knew better than to take him lightly.  After a difficult opening service game, he survived to claim his footing in the match.  Neither man held an edge on the other for most of the first set as they cruised behind serve.  Nadal’s first-serve percentage dwindled lower than it usually does, but he won the overwhelming majority of his first-serve points.  His backhand ripped through the court convincingly, while his movement looked a trifle less lithe than it often does.

The first real opening did not come until the twelfth game, when Nadal earned three set points behind thunderous groundstrokes.  Not intimidated by that situation, Kohlschreiber pumped in a series of well-angled first serves and closed to the net behind some of them to erase each set points.  That burst of momentum carried him through the ensuing tiebreak, where he built a large lead at the outset.  Anticipating alertly and finishing points at the net, the underdog kept the favorite on his heels and snatched the tiebreak behind the serve that had gotten him there. 

Never one to crumble under adversity, Nadal simply dug into the trenches early in the second set.  The question posed by this match was whether Kohlschreiber could sustain his inspired passages of play long enough to secure the upset.  Viewers should not have felt overly surprised to see him take a set, for he can produce electrifying shot-making despite his small size.  The German also can fall prey to extended dips in form that compensate for his torrid stretches, though, and few players can punish these dips more effectively than Nadal can.

One of those stretches seemed to arrive in the third game of the second set, when Kohlschreiber again fell behind triple break point.  Once again, he fought off those three and one more with scintillating shot-making, although the stress of that predicament surely strained his nerves. That pressure may have told when Kohlschreiber did drop serve two games later.

Nadal had not faced a break point on his own serve, so that first break of the match felt like a decisive blow for the second set.  While he fell behind as he served for the set, the pace and weight of his groundstrokes continued to take time away from Kohlschreiber as he tried to set up his down-the-line lasers.  A confident closure to the second set turned the match into a best-of-three encounter and a war of attrition where the advantage shifted to the Spaniard.

One of the most thrilling games of the men’s tournament opened the third set.  Nadal earned break point after break point with a series of ball-bruising, physical exchanges during which each man probed the contours of the court.  Kohlschreiber saved eight break points with a barrage of service winners and fearless net approaches.  The relentless speed with which he played kept the methodical Nadal off balance on those points, but the former champion also showcased his keen reflexes and instincts while moving with full explosiveness now.

Nadal eventually let Kohlschreiber escape that game, but he probably knew that his tenacity would bear fruit.  It did sooner rather than later, as the German lost four straight points after leading 40-15 in his next service game.  Nadal, who still had not faced a break point in this match or dropped his serve in the tournament, showed himself an excellent front-runner.  He consolidated the break with deep but not overly risky groundstrokes as Kohlschreiber’s game started to spin out of control.  

Still, the German delighted the Arthur Ashe crowd with bursts of deft touch at the net that outfoxed even the cat-like Nadal.  He continued to swing freely on his vicious one-handed backhand as well, and his next two service games flowed into his ledger with ease.  Nadal never looked seriously troubled on serve, though.  He continued to subject Kohlschreiber to severe pressure during return games, which paid off when he broke to clinch the third set.

A comeback from Kohlschreiber looked remote at that stage, since Nadal had settled down after the shaky start and deployed his weapons with greater accuracy.  The first break point on Rafa’s serve arrived early in the fourth set, perhaps the result of a lull in focus.  Kohlschreiber nearly converted it, jerking the Spaniard well outside the doubles alley before slamming a smash into the net.

Some of the air left the tires of the German’s BMW for the last several kilometers of the autobahn.  Perhaps still mulling the missed smash, Kohlschreiber dropped his head as he yielded an early break.  The fourth set fell flat compared to the fieriness of the first three, but the Primetime crowd at Arthur Ashe could not complain despite the anticlimactic breadstick.  Standing toe to toe with one of the greatest men to play the sport, Kohlschreiber had given them their full money’s worth of entertainment.

Toiling tirelessly to earn his hard-fought win, Nadal  struck 48 winners and never dropped serve.  He now eyes an open route to the final.  With Roger Federer ambushed earlier today, the Spaniard can look forward to two likely matches against compatriots.  First, Federer-killer Tommy Robredo awaits in the quarterfinals, and then David Ferrer poses the most likely threat in the semifinals.  While Nadal has lost to Ferrer at a previous US Open, he has dominated both Robredo and Ferrer over the last several years.  A third US Open final in three appearances grows ever more likely.