On January 25, Beijing time, Spain's legendary football champion Rafael Nadal lived up to expectations and reached the top 4 without any danger. In the 2022 Australian Open men's singles quarterfinals that ended in the afternoon, Nadal took 4 hours to score 6-3/ 6-4/ 4-6/ 3-6, 6-6- 6-3, and finally eliminated Canada's Shapovalov and advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open, which was also the seventh time in his career to advance to the Australian Open men's singles final four.
In the semi-finals, he will face the winner between Berrettini and Monfils, and it is worth mentioning that Nadal is only 2 wins away from the historic moment of hitting 21 Grand Slams and Double Grand Slams, which can be said to be close at hand, but far away. Because Natto stumbles every step he takes, it's hard to predict how he's going to fight in the next semi-final, which is heart-wrenching!
The match was played at Australia's Rod Laver Stadium, with No. 6 seed Nadal facing No. 14 seed Shapovalov, the two had met four times before, and Nadal led 3-1. But today's Nadal is no longer what it used to be, and it can be said that it is in a period of decline, especially injuries and physical fitness, which have long since ceased to be brave. So this time, Nadal did not have the certainty of winning.
Nadal took the lead in the first set, taking a 2-1 lead in the first three sets. Shapovalov seemed to be overwhelmed by Nadal, who managed to save the set and won the first set 6-3 in the 9th set.
Natto continued the good form of the first set in the second set, the first six sets, both sides saved the set, then Nadal took a 5-3 lead, Nadal successfully saved the set in the 10th set to win the set, 6-4 next city.
In fact, winning in both sets makes Nadal seem to see the light of day, after all, winning another set can easily reach the top 4. However, at this moment, Nadal's injuries and physical problems were once again exposed, Nadal is really old, where is the sword that is not old? It's just self-deception.
Nadal said after the match that he was tired from the third set, and sure enough, Nadal played abnormally. In the 10th set of the third set, the Canadian youngster took three sets despite Nadal's mistake and pulled back a set 6-4.
Nadal was very annoyed but powerless to pursue. You can only watch your opponent win the next set.
In the fourth set, Shapovalov completed the break in the 4th set to take the initiative with a 3-1 advantage, and finally Nadal's mistakes increased, causing the opponent to win another set 6-3, chasing the big score to a 2-2 draw, which can put great pressure on Natto. Seeing that the advantage of the previous 2 sets was gone, the two returned to the starting line.
In the 5th set, also the decider, Shapovalov's mentality also changed, and the pressure doubled. Nadal also struggled to support, breaking the opening line to establish a 2-0 lead. Nadal is still a skilled player, Ginger is still old spicy, and finally ushered in the 9th set to win the game, at the key moment Nadal withstood the pressure, saved the success, and defeated the opponent 6-3.
In this way, Natto had no danger to end the opponent with an aggregate score of 3-2, which took 4 hours and finally reached the top 4.
Shapovalov was so upset after the game that he even complained that the referee had the privilege of going to the toilet in favor of Nadal. All in all, Nadal stumbled to the top 4 this time, but there are still 2 tough battles to play, of course, if he loses to his opponent in the semi-finals, then Nadal can go home early.
It's hard to predict whether Nadal will win the title, make history, be the first to win the 21st Grand Slam title, neither Federer nor Djokovic has done. Nadal, close at hand, but far away.
Can masters like Tsitsipas and Medvedev give Nadal a chance? Unless Nadal's luck is quite good and good, it will be extremely difficult to beat them in terms of the current state of competition. With each step, Nadal is staggering and thrilling, and can't help but be very distressed. Without Djokovic and Federer's match, can Nader pick up the leak? Let's wait and see. 【Text/Fighting Jianghu】