NADAL STILL AS STRONG AS EVER
Spaniard defies father time to reach China Open final
BEIJING champion Andy Murray and Japanese star Kei Nishikori all missing.
However, the oldest of the lot, Roger Federer, is set to compete in Shanghai next week and Nadal refused to add his powerful voice to those demanding fewer tournaments.
“When I have been in that position (injured), I don’t remember people talking that much about these things,” Nadal said after defeating the 26-year-old Dimitrov in their semi-final.
“The problem now is there is a couple of players (injured), it’s a coincidence, first thing.
“Second thing, we cannot forget that we are not 20-years-old any more.
“It is true that the calendar is tough, but at the same time it is true that Federer is 36 years, I think, I am 31, Novak and Andy are 30, and Nishikori, I don’t know, 27.
“It is normal that at some point these kind of players end up playing a lot of matches and a lot of years in a row, at some point they have some problems,” said the Spaniard.
An emotional Simona Halep called it the best day of her life as she surged to No 1 in the world for the first time after reaching the final of the women’s draw.
The Romanian, who said her next goal is to win a maiden Grand Slam, defeated Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-4 in their semi-final.
Her ousting of Spaniard Garbine Muguruza at the top of the women’s game will be officially confirmed tomorrow when the latest rankings are released.
The 26-year-old Simona is the fifth woman to hold top spot this year, but the first Romanian in the history of the WTA.
She smiled broadly, then cried and was presented with a flower arrangement in the figure “1” — which she hugged tightly – to celebrate the landmark moment.
“My dream is true now, in that moment you cannot believe 100 per cent that it’s happening, so I was in tears,” she said.
“It’s the best moment in my life and I want just to keep it. And I have a few more dreams in my career.”
Simona will face unseeded Caroline Garcia in the final today after the Frenchwoman beat 12th seed Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 in the second semifinal. Agencies