The Rafael Nadal freight train rolled on in Melbourne, with the Spaniard dispatching young Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 to book a spot in Sunday’s Australian Open final.
Just call Nadal the NextGen punisher; he went into his semifinal match against Tsitsipas having already destroyed two of the most promising young players of the new generation of tennis in Alex de Minaur and Frances Tiafoe. That he would get a crack at a third in the semis had the makings of an intriguing story.
Tsitsipas had been the talk of the tournament so far–rather like he was when he made the final in Toronto earlier this summer. He blindsided Roger Federer in the fourth round, beating the Swiss Maestro at his own game. And though he’s not a grinder, the Greek ground out a win over Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarters. When asked about his impending match with Nadal, Tsitsipas said, “I felt very close to beating him in Toronto, though the score was 6-2, 7-6” and, “It’s going to be interesting. I feel like I can do something good against him.”
He was wrong. At least this time.
Nadal absolutely smothered his much younger opponent. The devastating form that Nadal showed all week culminated in perhaps his best performance of the tournament so far. Tsitsipas was impotent on the Nadal serve. The Greek didn’t earn a single break point in the match until the final game with Nadal serving at 5-0 to serve up his second bagel of the tournament. Tsitsipas didn’t convert.
“Honestly, I have no idea what I can take from that match,” the underdog admitted. “It’s not that I was even close to get to something; I only got six games from that match. I feel very strange. I feel happy with my performance in this tournament, but at the same time I feel disappointed. I feel like I could do a bit better today. I don’t know. That’s how I felt. But it’s a very, very weird feeling. Almost felt like I just couldn’t play better.”
Nadal’s victory came in one hour and 46 minutes, which would be fast and efficient for any slam semifinal,but for Nadal it’s a win at warp speed. The second seed has accomplished what once would have been unthinkable: he’s playing short points. It’s not that he won’t grind out points from the baseline, he’s just more judicious about when he does so. Combined with an improved serve and Nadal has put together his most impressive, dominant run ever in Melbourne (final result notwithstanding).
“I played well, of course,” he assessed. “I have been playing well during the whole event. Every match, more or less, I think I did a lot of things well. Tonight, was another one. I played solid–with my serve, playing aggressive. Probably the backhand was better today than the rest of the days.”
The 2009 champion awaits the winner of Novak Djokovic and surprise semifinalist Lucas Pouille, who contest their semifinal on Friday.
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