Rafael Nadal has reached this Tuesday sptima semifinal del Open de Australia, the number 36 counting all the ‘majors’, after beating Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, in 4 hours and eight minutes.
There are already 74 victories on the slopes of Melbourne Park, the second most successful geographical point of his career after the land of Roland Garros (105 wins).
At 35 years and 241 days old, the Spanish he is the fourth oldest to be among the top four in the tournament in the Open Era after Ken Rosewall, Roger Federer and Mal Anderson, all three with 36 springs.
Nadal, who improves the quarters of 2021, adds 360 net points that strengthen him in fifth place in the world against the serious threat of Matteo Berrettini, immediately behind in the ranking and who could be his opponent in the penultimate round on Friday.
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The Italian, for this, should win the duel of quarters that measures him to Gael Monfils and that closes the day at the Rod Laver Arena.
Rafa, who doubted until the last minute whether to take the trip to the underworld due to his chronic injury to his left foot, returns to a major semifinal 228 days after losing Roland Garros to Novak Djokovic.
In the confrontation between the only two left-handers remaining in the men’s singles draw of the tournament, Nadal beat his rival, not without suffering, for the fourth time in a row. Far is Shapovalov’s first and only victory in the second round of the Masters 1,000 in Montreal in 2017.
“I have lost to a future Grand Slam champion,” the manager ventured to say. Five years later, Denis is far from meeting the expectations created by his appearance on the professional circuit.
eternal promise
In Australia, he has been one round away from equaling his ceiling in the greats, which dated back to the Wimbledon semifinal in its last edition. His executioner then was Djokovic, the number one and later champion.
Shapovalov, who came from beating Nadal on December 18 in the exhibition in Abu Dhabi, found a totally different player than the one he handcuffed in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The Canadian had already given up his serve in the fourth game with four unforced errors. His executioner will shoot the score until 4-1. That rent will be worth to write down the initial sleeve.
The heat was the guest at the event, an element more favorable to the Spanish, almost the same as having played eight consecutive games at the Rod Lave Arena, if you count the previous 250 tournament that ended in his palms.
Jamie Delgado, ex of Andy Murray, tried to encourage his pupil, but he had someone on the other side of the net who did not fail. Nadal lost just five points on serve and played at will.
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“you are all corruptShapovalov told the Brazilian referee Carlos Bernardes when Rafa was not ready to subtract. The two protagonists had to clear things up with a small conversation on the net.
In the continuation, the American presented more battle. But he lost his serve in the seventh game and that cost him the second set.
In the third set, Denis offered his best version. He had the first two break options with 3-2 and 15-40. The Spaniard had made his job easier with two double faults.
Shapovalov returned to the charge in the tenth game and closed the gap on the scoreboard. Nadal’s countenance changed completely. His body language betrayed a physical and mental exhaustion.
medical assistance
The bad feelings were confirmed after losing serve again and letting his opponent distance himself 4-1. In between, a warning for delaying the staging of the ball. Everything was linked to a decrease in the percentage of first services and the carousel of double faults.
He asked for the tournament doctor and showed up next to the physical therapist. he touched his stomach. He took a pill and continued in action. It remained to be seen if the reaction would arrive.
The tennis player was joined by another problem: he went to get his strings in his racket bag and had left them in his locker. I needed to string rackets in anticipation of the fifth set. So he warned the chair umpire, who called to resolve the situation.
Nadal played what he does not know: all or nothing in each of the points. He wanted to shorten rallies with winners or drives to the net.
His passage through the rest area coincides with permanent conversations with the physio and the request for towels with ice to mitigate the heat.
Despite everything, the sixth favorite created two chances to move up to 5-4. They were solved by a Shapovalov unleashed in his tennis and that matched the result.
Rafa stopped the game for medical assistance in the locker room. It took him six minutes to get back on the track because they took his blood pressure. On his return he was another. He took a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and accelerated to his seventh Open semi-final.
The Canadian, far from passing balls, failed again and again, especially with his backhand. The Spaniard asserted his experience. It was reflected in the statistics of matches over five sets: 22 won and 13 lost. Add one more to the box.
One more day of rest
The advantage of debuting on the first day of competition is that both Nadal and his next rival will have two days off to prepare for the match that qualifies for the fight for the crown.
The organization has modified its program this season and the two semi-finals will be held on Friday. One during the day and the other at night.
It could happen, something that has never happened before, that Rafa stands in the final having played five of his six matches under the sun and away from artificial light and the cold and wind of the night in the capital of Victoria.
The seven semi-finals of the manacor at the Australian Open They place him at the height of Ivan Lendl in the fifth league of that historical classification that Federer leads with 15.
