NEW YORK,  (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal will come  face-to-face with swashbuckling Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in a  quarter-final contest at the U.S. Open today which is  likely to turn into a “battle of the forehands.”

The Spaniard owns one of the most lethal forehands seen in  tennis but Gonzalez has also been gifted with an equally  thunderous delivery and has the ability to rattle the third  seed — having won three of their nine meetings to date.
It is a danger Nadal is well aware of.
“He played unbelievable all match against (Jo-Wilfried)  Tsonga. Very good tennis, unbelievable forehands, so I know him  very well,” said Nadal referring to Gonzalez’s fourth round  victory.

“He knows me very well. I have to play aggressive. If he  gets control of the point with his forehand, it’s almost  impossible beat him. So I have to play aggressive, and make him  uncomfortable in every shot.”

However, the biggest threat to Nadal’s hopes of taking a  step closer to his first Flushing Meadows title could be the  heavy storms forecast for Thursday evening.

After being blessed with 10 days of dry weather, the Open  schedule could be thrown into disarray in the closing stages  for the second year running. Last year the men’s final spilled  over to the third Monday of the championships.

Before the Nadal-Gonzalez match can take centre stage in  the night session, 20-year-olds, sixth seed Juan Martin del  Potro and Croatian Marin Cilic, will be looking to reach the  semis here for the first time when face off in the afternoon.