“I have to play at my highest level”- Rafael Nadal wary of his semifinal clash against new World No.1 Daniil Medvedev
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Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev with their trophies at the 2022 Australian Open
Rafael Nadal is back on the tour with a bang reaching the semifinals of the ATP Acapulco 2022 tournament. The 21 times grand slam champion opened the match with a bagel set but Tommy Paul drove him to fight really hard for a victory in the quarter-finals. However, he managed to win in straight sets 6-0, 7-6.
On Thursday, Nadal dropped only 10 points in the first set against Paul but he faced stiff opposition in the second set in hot and humid settings. The fourth seed dominated early in the second set, which lasted over 90 minutes, and the American began to exploit his agility to powerful effect, routinely getting on top of rallies.
On the match, Nadal said, “I think I played one of the best sets since a long time ago. I played fantastic in the first set. In the beginning of the second, I made a couple of mistakes, and then he started playing better and better. The set became a little crazy with a lot of breaks.”
The winner of this match would face top seed Daniil Medvedev, the Russian tennis star. The two legends just played last month at the Australian Open in which Nadal came out on top in a thrilling five-set battle.
‘Everybody knows how difficult it is to play against Daniil’: Nadal
Daniil Medvedev is on his way to becoming world no. 1 one after current world number one Novak Djokovic fell in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, enabling the Russian to rise to the top of the rankings.
Nadal was full of praise for the soon-to-be World No. 1: “Everybody knows how difficult it is to play against Daniil. I know I have to play at my highest level if I want to have any chance, and that’s what I’m going to try. I have to play my game.”
“I’m looking forward to playing the game, for me to be in the semi-finals here after having little time after Australia is very good news,” he added. “Now a very tough game is coming, I know it will be very difficult, but I feel like it.”
Although Nadal will have a slight edge in this match given the outcome when they last met, Medvedev, has been playing some of his best tennis of the year. The Russian had compelled Nadal to push himself to his limits in order to defeat him, and he would do so again in tomorrow’s encounter. The soon-to-be World No. 1 will put up a fierce battle, but Nadal will always push back. Expect another enticing fight between the two.
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Shilpi Pusadkar
(106 Articles Published)