Rafael Nadal secures semifinal spot at Australian Open
SYDNEY, Jan. 25– 20- time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has advanced into the quarterfinals after a five-set victory 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 against Canadian world No.14 Denis Shapovalov on Tuesday afternoon. The Spanish No.6 seed, making his 36th Grand Slam appearance, began his match with confidence, breaking Shapovalov’s service in game four and then…
SYDNEY, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) — 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has advanced into the quarterfinals after a five-set victory 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 against Canadian world No.14 Denis Shapovalov on Tuesday afternoon.
The Spanish No.6 seed, making his 36th Grand Slam appearance, began his match with confidence, breaking Shapovalov’s service in game four and then holding service throughout.
Set two went in similar fashion, as the Canadian struggled to nail down his service game, landing just 53 percent of his first serves, compared with 70 percent from Nadal, and making some 14 unforced errors at key moments.
The tides of the game took a sudden turn in what could have been Nadal’s closing set. The 22-year-old young gun made a sudden break after holding 5-4 with the help of a double-fault from the world No.6.
In the fourth set, Nadal, suffering from stomach pain, was fighting an uphill battle against Shapovalov who had found his stride. At the end of set four the embattled Spaniard left the court for just over five minutes for a medical assessment.
Taking the court for set five, Nadal pushed through his injury with a three-love breakaway, thanks in part to an incredible service game.
And after a gruelling four hours and eight minutes on the courts, Nadal managed to out-wait his opponent, winning off an unforced error from Shapovalov.
Nadal spoke about his physical toil in the latter half of the match during a post-match interview.
“I was completely destroyed. A very tough day, very warm,” said Nadal.
“Two months ago, we didn’t know if we could be back on tour at all. It’s a present of life that I’m here playing tennis again,” said Nadal, who is still recovering from a foot injury.
As he now advances to his 7th semifinals in the Melbourne Park, the Spanish tennis veteran has held on to his chance to become the first man to claim 21 Grand Slam titles.
He will face either French world No.20 Gael Monfils, or world No.7 Matteo Berrettini from Italy, pending the result of their quarterfinal match on Tuesday night. Enditem
