GENERATIONS
THUR 18, EPISODE 64 (1624)
Luke is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Mazwi isn’t about to let his manipulative CEO walk all over him. Tracy is hurt when her advances are rejected.
FRI 19, EPISODE 65 (1625)
Ayanda gets an impossible proposition. What will she decide? Tshidi’s never been the type to back off easily. Luyolo gets into trouble for trying to help.
GREECE’S Stefanos Tsitsipas recovered from two sets down to stun Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open quarter-finals on yesterday, ending the Spaniard’s bid for a record 21st Grand Slam title.
Second seed Nadal was on course for a comfortable victory before Tsitsipas turned the match around to prevail 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-5 in a seismic upset.
“I don’t know what happened after the third set — I fly like little bird, everything was working for me,” Tsitsipas said. “The emotions at the end were indescribable, they were something else.”
It was just the second time Nadal had lost when two sets up in a Grand Slam, having previously fallen to Fabio Fognini in the third round of the 2015 US Open.
Nadal, 34, remains tied with Roger Federer on 20 Grand Slam titles, but Novak Djokovic can pull within two if he wins his 18th major trophy at Melbourne Park.
Fifth seed Tsitsipas will now attempt to reach a maiden Grand Slam final when he plays the in-form Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal. He beat Nadal for just the second time from eight matches. Djokovic will play the other semifinal against Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev.
MEDVEDEV BEATS CRAMPS, HEAT TO TOPPLE RUBLEV
A badly cramping Daniil Medvedev won a brutal all-Russian clash against Andrey Rublev to move into his first Australian Open semifinal, warning he was playing at “an amazing level”.
The fourth seed had more firepower than his younger, eighth-seeded rival in scorching conditions on Rod Laver Arena, grinding him down 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to extend his win-streak to 19 matches.
His reward is a last-four clash with fifth-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. “I would say the three last points when I was getting ready for the serve I could not really move my left leg,” he said, with both players cramping in the “super-tough” conditions. But I’ve known him a long time and I know how to neutralise his big shots. That’s definitely one of the best matches I’ve played lately, not even just here but last year,” Medvedev added.
Medvedev is now riding a 19-match run dating back to November, taking in titles at the Paris 1000, the ATP Finals in London and the ATP Cup with Russia in the lead-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year.
He is into his first semifinal at Melbourne Park as he continues to knock on the door of Grand Slam success, having reached the 2019 US Open final and the last four in New York in 2020. “Andrey I think at this moment is on fire, starting last year, so he was definitely for me one of the favourites to go far in this tournament,” Medvedev said.
“To win this match in three sets, especially how physical it was, I mean, it was an amazing level from me, and I’m really happy about it.”