Melbourne: Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal got a step closer to winning his 15th Grand Slam title with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 win over Canada’s Milos Raonic.
Ahead of the match, Rafa said he would be dead if he wasn’t aggressive against his Canadian, and he did exactly that.
After wrapping up the first set without much difficulty, Nadal saved six set points in the second set which lasted for 82 minutes.
When asked how did he manage to save the second set, Nadal said, “As always I don’t know.”
Nadal will play 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria for a place in the final – with Federer taking on fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the other semi – after the Spaniard emphatically batted away doubts that his best days were long gone.
“I think I am not a very arrogant person so I always have doubts,” he said in a court-side interview.
“Even when I was winning I had doubts and even more so when I had injuries. But doubts make you work harder.
“I have had a great career but I had some tough moments so that makes me enjoy moments like this even more,” he added.
Nadal had to save six set points as Raonic pressed hard in the second set but he was clinical on the big points and broke the Canadian to love to wrap up the match in style.
The Rod Laver Arena terraces roared their approval as the 2009 champion pumped his fists in celebration, having endured two lean years at the grand slams.
(With Agency inputs)
Source: Zee News