Devastating Nadal Surges Into Australian Open Final

Rafael Nadal, with his refined service motion and devastating forehand, continued his dominant streak at this year’s Australian Open on Thursday for a place in his fifth final at Melbourne Park.

Nadal, the 2009 champion among 17 Grand Slam championship trophies, didn’t put a foot wrong against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals titlist and No. 14 seed, in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 victory over one hour and 45 minutes.

The Spanish superstar, who had beaten Tsitsipas in the finals of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and the Rogers Cup in Toronto last year, booked a place in his 25 major championship final (17-7 record) by winning 49 of his 61 service points and hitting 28 winners.

The 31-year-old Nadal will now prepare to meet World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is chasing a record-breaking seventh Australian Open crown, or first-time major semi-finalist Lucas Pouille of France. Nadal trails Djokovic 25-27 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but leads Pouille 2-1. Nadal advanced to the 2012 final, losing to Djokovic in the longest men’s Grand Slam final on record at 5 hours 53 minutes, in 2014 (l. to Wawrinka) and 2017 (l. to Federer).

Nadal was at his aggressive best from the very start, dominating on serve and constantly placing Tsitsipas under pressure. Nadal broke first by rushing the net in the third game and forcing Tsitsipas into error and took a 5-2 lead with a drop shot winner. Minutes later, Nadal wrapped up the 31-minute opener by firing down a serve to Tsitsipas’ backhand, which came back long. The Spanish superstar lost just three service points, all on his second serve, and hit 26 winners.

Nadal, locked-in, maintained his hold over Tsitsipas, who saved three break points at 2-2, 0/40, in the second set courtesy of two forehand winners and a backhand error from the World No. 2. Nadal, holding serve with ease, broke through for a 5-4 advantage after Tsitsipas made three forehand mistakes and in clinching the second set he’d lost just seven of his service points.

Tsitsipas tried new things, mixing up his service placement, coming to the net and using the angles of the court to create an opening, but Nadal was simply too good. As evidenced when the Spaniard broke serve in the first game of the third set, when Tsitsipas responded to Nadal’s groundstroke firepower, but was left motionless when the 2009 champion ripped a backhand crosscourt winner. Nadal showcased great courtcraft throughout the match and won the final nine games.

Nadal is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era (since April 1968) – and only the third man in history – to win each of the four Grand Slam championship titles twice. Australians Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the only players to have won each major on two or more occasions.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2CEW6Wz