Rafa Nadal’s bid for a record 21st Grand Slam title came crashing to a halt at the Australian Open on Wednesday, February 17 as Stefanos Tsitsipas rose up to topple the Spaniard, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5 and reach the semifinals.
World No. 2 Nadal had not lost a set coming into the evening clash at Rod Laver Arena and was locked on target for the last four at Melbourne Park after roaring to a two-set lead over the listless Greek.
The match turned on its head when Nadal wavered in a messy 3rd set tiebreak, and a rejuvenated Tsitsipas rallied brilliantly to take the match into a decider.
Capturing Nadal’s serve at 5-5 in the 5th, Tsitsipas saw two match points slip through his fingers as he served for the match but fired a backhand winner down the line on the 3rd to claim one of his finest career victories.
“Well done for him, he played better than me probably in the important moments,” Nadal told reporters.
“I tried my best in every single moment… I think I stayed positive all the time during the match, fighting, and it was not enough. Sometimes it’s enough, today was not enough.”
Fifth seed Tsitsipas will meet Russian Daniil Medvedev for a place in the final.
“I fly like a little bird and everything was working for me,” Tsitsipas said on court.
“The emotions in the end are indescribable.”
“I have no words to describe what just happened on court. My tennis speaks out for itself. It’s an unbelievable feeling to be able to fight on such level, just to be able to leave my all out on court,” the shaggy-haired 22-year-old said.
“I started very nervous but I don’t know what happened after the 3rd set.”
Tsitsipas avenged his harrowing straight sets defeat by Nadal in the 2019 semifinals, when he was left shell-shocked by the Spaniard’s complete dominance.
Yet for all but 3 sets, Nadal appeared set to reopen those old wounds.
Tsitsipas slept-walked through the match before he knuckled down on serve in the 3rd set.
He perked up visibly after battling to a 5-4 lead but Nadal remained impenetrable on serve.
It took the Spaniard to open the door with a pair of bungled overhead smashes, the second floating long from the baseline to give Tsitsipas a 5-3 lead in the tiebreak.
Revitalized, the Greek pounded Nadal’s backhand into submission and rushed in to thump a volley into an open court to raise three set points.
Nadal canceled one of them with his own net-rush but finally relented after a baseline skirmish and retired to his chair fuming.
Tsitsipas was transformed and soon had Nadal clinging desperately on serve.
Nadal fended off break points but finally faltered at 4-4 in the 4th set before gifting it to the Greek with a slew of unforced errors.
The 5th followed the same formula, only with Nadal crumbling on serve at 5-5 after a wild forehand into the tramlines.
The stadium was empty barring a few coaches, officials and ballkids, but tension reached boiling point as Tsitsipas butchered a forehand on match point.
Nadal launched a ferocious forehand return to cancel a second match point but the Spaniard’s volleying let him down again as he swooped in to hammer straight into the net.
Tsitsipas made no mistake on his third chance to seal it, blasting a winning backhand that left Nadal’s record bid in tatters. – Rappler.com
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