Rampant Nadal stands in Greek’s path to pantheon
MELBOURNE:The vast experience of Rafael Nadal meets the exciting youth of Stefanos Tsitsipas in a fascinating first men’s semi-final at the Australian Open on Thursday.
Tsitsipas, the 20-year-old Greek with all the gifts, pulled off the win of his life to knock out Roger Federer in four sets in the last 16. The 14th seed Tsitsipas has already etched his name in Greece’s sporting pantheon by becoming the first player from his country — man or woman — to reach the semi-final of a Slam.
The NextGen Finals champion with the flowing locks will continue his ascent to Greek god-like status if, aged 20 years 170 days, he becomes the youngest Major finalist since Novak Djokovic (20 years, 112 days) at the 2007 US Open.
But first he has to tame the rampaging bull that is the Spanish world No.2 Nadal, who has blasted through the draw without dropping a set as he chases his own slice of history. Victory for Nadal in his sixth Australian Open semi-final would keep him on course to be the first man to win all four Grand Slams twice in the Open era.
Tsitsipas lost both of his previous meetings with Nadal, blown away on Barcelona’s clay 6-2, 6-1 last year but giving him a tougher examination on a hard court in Canada. “I felt very close to beating him in Toronto, though the score was 6-2, 7-6,” said Tsitsipas. I remember coming back to the locker room and promising to myself I’m going to do much better against him next time. I feel like I can do something good against him.” Nadal came to Melbourne having not played since the US Open and subsequent foot surgery, but insisting he was fully fit despite pulling out of his Brisbane warm-up. He also promised to unleash a remodelled, more powerful serve to add a new weapon to his deadly arsenal. He has been as good as his word, looking fitter, faster and stronger with every match. And the serve? It is now an astonishing 51 straight games since it was last broken — four matches ago in the third set of the firstround encounter with James Duckworth.