What We Learned from Rafael Nadal's 5-Set Victory over Tim Smyczek

Rafael Nadal advanced to Round 3 of the Australian Open at the expense of qualifier Tim Smyczek in one of the toughest matches of his career. 

The Spaniard was taken to five sets by the American, who fought valiantly throughout. Battling from a set down to win the next two, Smyczek looked set to force Nadal's earliest Melbourne exit before Rafa produced a comeback of his own to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-5.

There's much to take away regarding Nadal from such a memorable clash.

Injuries and Illness Are Taking Their Toll

Thanks to a wrist injury and appendicitis, this was only Nadal's 10th match since crashing out of Wimbledon last year.

Rafa appeared to still be affected by his illness, as he needed medical treatment for stomach cramps in the third set and doubled over in pain on several occasions.

The 28-year-old was clearly in some distress, and it made for a worrying sight:

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In an on-court interview following the win, Nadal said, via BBC Sport:

"

At the end of the first set, I started to feel my body was very bad, very tired. I was worrying like crazy. Then I was serving for the third and almost threw up. It was a terrible feeling.

I was close to not continuing because I felt that I was very dizzy.

I was suffering a lot. Too much. Obviously it's a very positive thing that finally I have the chance to win, but I hope to recover myself.

"

Nadal will need to hope that he can recover in time for his third-round match against Dudi Sela.

The Spaniard's game is heavily reliant on fitness and athleticism, so to be tired at the end of the first set is a serious concern.

Smyczek, ranked 112th in the world, played the game of his life but wasn't quite able to finish Nadal off. Against stronger opposition, Rafa won't be so fortunate and will undoubtedly be punished.

To make a genuine impact on the Open, Nadal can't afford for this to be an issue again.

Nadal Will Need to Play Himself into Form

Because of his lack of minutes on the court, the Mallorca-born star was always going to be rusty going into the Open.

A surprise defeat to Michael Berrer in Round 1 of the Qatar Open earlier this month confirmed that, but thanks to his ongoing fitness issues his chances of rediscovering his touch have been severely hampered.

Understandably, Nadal's stats in the four-hour battle with Smyczek do not make for encouraging reading.

Nadal made 53 unforced errors across the five sets and just 43 winners to Smyczek's 64.

The 14-time Grand Slam winner's serve clearly suffered. Nadal made seven double faults, three on break points. This gifted Smyczek the third set, as Nadal failed to close it out on his own serve.

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Clearly, more court time is needed to hone his game and return to his clinical, powerful ways.

Providing issues with his fitness do not arise again (admittedly a big question mark), Rafa has the chance to play his way into shape as he makes his way through the early rounds in Melbourne.

Nadal can take encouragement from his strong first set, in which he won 77 percent of the points on his first serve compared to the American's 58 percent.

As the tournament wears on and with more wins under his belt, Nadal can iron out the kinks and look more like the player we're used to seeing. It will take far longer than just the Australian Open for Nadal to recover, but vital progress can be made.

He Can Still Make the Semi-final

Of course, reaching the semi-final comes with a huge caveat: Nadal's fate depends massively on his health.

After all, the Spaniard admitted he was so dizzy as to be close to conceding the match. Tennis writer Courtney Nguyen revealed on Twitter that Nadal did not believe he could come back into the match:

However, Nadal somehow dug deep and produced a resilient performance in the final two sets and can take heart going forward.

The man is as iron-willed as he is experienced, and the motivation his hard-fought victory will bring gives him something powerful to draw on if he finds himself in a similar struggle.

The draw will also help Nadal in this regard. Of all the contenders for the Slam, third-seed Nadal has arguably the easiest route to the semi-final.

Seventh-seed Tomas Berdych, whom Nadal could meet in the quarter-final, is the only player who might typically cause him any problems, and Nadal is 18-3 against the Czech, so it's well within the realms of possibility that Rafa will find himself in the final four.

Even if he is able to recover from his ailments, though, he is in no condition to match Andy Murray or Roger Federer, one of whom would be his likely opponent in the semi-final, or Novak Djokovic beyond them.

Still, a semi-final berth would be a phenomenal achievement in his state, and Nadal has proved he has the fight to get there.