On January 25, Beijing time, the 2022 Australian Open men's singles 8-in-4 knockout round, No. 6 seed Nadal defeated No. 14 seed Shapovalov 3-2 to advance to the top 4, only 2 wins away from the first GOAT in the history of men's tennis.
In the first set, Nadal broke in the fourth set to take a 3-1 lead. Nadal then easily saved his hair, 4-1! ultimately. Nadal won the first set 6-3. However, Shapovalov was unhappy with Nadal, arguing that the Spanish superstar was always deliberately delaying time, but the referee did not act.
In the second set, Shapovalov was still emotional, and at one point he walked to the front of the net, and Nadal theory. In the seventh set, Nadal once again achieved a key break, leading 4-3, and then Nadal struggled to save, 5-3! In the end, Nadal went 6-4 to the next city.
In the third set, both sides held their own serves, and the battle was 3-3! In the sixth set, Nadal saved the break point, and he clenched his fists and roared, very excited. In the seventh set, the two sides were fiercely contested, and Shapovalov still saved the game and led 4-3. In the eighth set, Nadal relied on a strong serve to easily save his serve, 4-4! In the ninth set, Shapovalov's serve was equally strong, leading 5-4, followed by a serve that Nadal had to keep. In the tenth set, Nadal fell behind 0-40, Shapovalov took three break points, and in the end, Shapovalov broke and pulled back a set, 1-2 behind.
In the fourth set, Shapovalov broke in the fourth set, taking a 3-1 lead, and finally won another set 6-3, making it 2-2!
In the decider, Nadal broke the belt and took a 3-0 lead at the start. After that, Nadal performed steadily, did not allow Shapovalov to break, and finally won 6-3, a bitter five-set battle, which lasted more than 4 hours.
Today, Nadal is in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the 36th time, trailing Federer and Djokovic.
Nadal is only 2 wins away from the Australian Open title, and if he wins the Australian Open, Nadal will become the first GOAT in history. Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are all holding 20 Grand Slams, djokovic was originally the number one favourite at the Australian Open, but he was expelled from Australia and did not qualify for the competition.