“Won against World number 1 on his favorite surface”- Rafael Nadal thinks bad days are behind him after victory over Daniil Medvedev
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Rafael Nadal
World No. 5 and the 4th seed of the 2022 Acapulco Open, Rafael Nadal played a thrilling match in the semi-finals of the tournament against the top-seed and soon to be World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. Nadal won the match 6-3, 6-3 in exactly 2 hours to book his place in his 5th final in Acapulco where he is a 3-time champion.
While Nadal could manage only 1 ace in the match while Daniil hit 10 aces in the match. Nadal however was very disciplined in the match, making only 1 double fault while Medvedev made 7. Nadal also converted 3 of his 6 break point opportunities and saved all 11 breakpoints that Medvedev could have won and it eventually became the difference between the two players.
“I played against the number one of the world on his favourite surface. This win confirms that things are going in a very positive way after Australia, that means a lot and I’m very happy. Now it’s 1:00 AM and it’s time to rest because tomorrow I have a very tough final vs Norrie. I have to be fully prepared.” said Nadal during the press conference expressing his joy over defeating Medvedev on his favourite surface once again within a space of a month.
Rafael Nadal continues his unbeaten streak this season
Nadal has now won 14 straight matches this season and has already made the best start to his season so far. This week in Mexico, he is yet to drop a set and has played only 1 tiebreaker so far. As he moves into the finals, Nadal also spoke about the foot injury that had kept him out of almost half of the 2021 season and has been a difficulty for him for many years now.
“Man, as you know I have a problem with my foot that doesn’t have much of a solution. Sometimes I have better days, sometimes bad ones. It is positive that I’m able to handle it and I can play without limitations after a year and a half where I was not able to do so,” added Nadal during the press conference.
Nadal will now contest in his 3rd final of the season in his 3rd tournament appearance and will be highly confident having 2 titles earlier. He will take on Cameron Norrie in the finals who comes into the finals after defeating last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals prior to the Nadal-Medvedev match. Nadal leads Norrie 3-0 in their head-to-head with 2 Clay meetings and 1 hardcourt meeting.
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Sarthak Shitole
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