Nadal outlasts Del Potro in five, to face Djokovic in Wimbledon semifinals

A memorable day at the All-England Club saw only one of the top two players in the world go home happy at the end of a combined 10 sets of tennis. The other is simply going home.

Following Roger Federer’s 2-6, 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 loss to Kevin Anderson, Rafael Nadal survived a quarterfinal thriller against Juan Martin Del Potro 7-5, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal battled through one of the most dramatic matches and certainly the highest-quality match of the tournament after four hours and 47 minutes.

Del Potro threw absolutely everything he had at the world No. 1, firing an incredible 77 winners–including 33 aces. But it was not enough, because Nadal was every bit as good as his distinction of being a two-time Wimbledon champion suggests. The Spaniard blasted 66 winners of his own compared to 34 unforced errors, while Del Potro’s ratio (plus-25 winners to errors) was almost as impressive.

After falling into a two sets to one hole, Nadal used one break in each of the last two frames to seal his comeback. Although he consolidated his fourth-set lead without much trouble while facing no break points, the second sed endured a much tougher time getting across the finish line in the fifth. Del Potro refused to go away quietly, bringing the hammer down on huge forehands to earn two break points with Nadal serving at 3-2 and three more at 4-3. Nonetheless, Nadal steadied the ship time and time again when it mattered most to produce clutch service hold after clutch service hold.

A hold to 30 at 5-4 finally ended it for the 17-time Grand Slam winner, who clinched victory with a backhand volley that left Del Potro sprawled on the lawn of Centre Court.

Day 9 recap:

“I am very happy the way that I survived a lot of important points in that fifth set,” Nadal reflected. “I think I did a lot of things well. I went to the net. In general terms, [it was] a positive match. Only negative thing is I played almost five hours, and I had the chance maybe to play less [if I had won] that second set.”

“Once Rafa breaks my serves, then the match becomes difficult for me,” Del Potro explained. “I had also my chances to break back in the fifth, and I missed some forehands. I think the key of the match was only three, four points in the end, and he took the chances.

“I think I played really good tennis today, but Rafa is Rafa, you know. Sometimes you play your best tennis and it’s not enough to beat him. But I’m glad with my tournament. Physically I’m okay. That gives me confidence to keep going in the future.”

As for Nadal’s immediate future, he will renew his rivalry with Novak Djokovic in the semifinals on Friday. Djokovic beat Kei Nishikori in four sets earlier in the day on Centre Court. A far more surprising top-half semi pits Anderson against John Isner.

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