Nadal into 30th Slam semifinal
MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal is back to feeling healthy. Probably not a coincidence that he’s back in the Australian Open semifinals.
Playing his familiar brand of court-covering, ball-bashing, opponent frustrating tennis, Nadal claimed 20 of his first 23 service points and saved the only two break chances he faced, ending American
Frances Tiafoe’s best Grand Slam run with a dominating 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory Tuesday.
“I feel lucky to be where I am after all the things I went through,” said Nadal, who quit during his quarterfinal at Melbourne Park a year ago because of a right leg problem, again during his semifinal at the U.S. Open in September because of a painful right knee, and then had off-season surgery on his right ankle.
Nadal, 32, reached his 30th major semifinal and prevented Tiafoe from getting to his first, two days after he turned 21.
The two hadn’t played each other before, though they did practice together at Roland Garros back in 2014, when Tiafoe was a teen in the junior competition.
Entering this year’s Australian Open, the 39thranked Tiafoe had never been past the third round at a major. But he knocked off two-time Slam runner-up
Kevin Anderson and 20thseeded Grigor Dimitrov on the way to the quarterfinals, drawing plenty of attention for his play, and his barechested, biceps-slapping celebrations inspired by LeBron James.
SERENA SHOCKED
Serena Williams lost her Australian Open quarterfinal to Karolina Pliskova after being called for a foot-fault when she was serving on match point.
Williams was serving for the match at 5-1 in the third when she was called for a foot-fault and then appeared to roll her left ankle during a point. She was broken while serving for the match.
Pliskova won six straight games to win it 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 — fighting off three match points on her own serve — and advanced to the semifinals.
OSAKA TOPS SVITOLINA
Naomi Osaka reached her first semifinal at the Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Elina Svitolina.
Osaka used her aggressive style and big hitting to compile a 31-11 edge in winners, including eight aces.
The No. 4-seeded Osaka is the reigning U.S. Open champion. She never had been past the fourth round at Melbourne Park.