Same old feisty Nadal wins nail-biter
Rafael Nadal is only too familiar with the adrenaline rush that surges through his body after winning an electrifying five-set thriller in four hours and 48 minutes on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
After all, those were broad details of the mesmerising 2008 final when the Spaniard ended Roger Federer’s five-year Wimbledon reign and hoisted the Challenge Cup for the first time.
Ten years on from that remarkable contest, which is widely considered as ‘the greatest ever tennis match’, Nadal was again celebrating another All England Club success with the same broad match details.
Only problem was that on Wednesday nobody was rushing out to roll out the green carpet and hand over the trophy as the Spaniard’s 7-5, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Juan Martin del Potro had merely secured him a semi-final with Novak Djokovic.
Nadal described Wednesday’s showdown as a combination of “suffering” and “enjoyment” but he was mightily relieved he came back from two-sets-to-one down to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2011.
“Of course I was worried when I lost the second set,” said Nadal, who had reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set and might have continued that run had he not squandered four set points, including one with a double fault, in the tiebreak. “That double fault was a big mistake.”
But such sloppy mistakes were kept to a minimum in a high-quality contest that featured 144 winners and 36 aces.
As it was, Del Potro came out on top in both counts by conjuring 77 of those winners and blasting down 33 aces - and still came off second best.
“I think I did a lot of things well. I went to the net. In general terms it was a positive match.
“Only negative thing is I played almost five hours.”
Being kept on court for so long before a 52nd meeting with Djokovic is not exactly the kind of preparation the 17-times Grand Slam champion would have wanted.
LONDON:
ISNER BEATS RAONIC
American John Isner reached his first Grand Slam semi-final as he beat Canadian Milos Raonic 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-3.
The 33-year-old saved a set point in the second set tiebreak to avoid going two sets down and then took control of the match to continue his dream run at the All England Club after years of unrewarded toil on the grasscourts.
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