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SEMIS: DJOKOVIC TAKES ON NISHIKORI IN THE BIG APPLE
World No 1 puts his weary body on the line against Juan Martin del Potro today.
New York
World No 1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal will put his weary body on the line against a merciless Juan Martin del Potro today with a place in the US Open final at stake.
Nadal, the three-time champion, faces 2009 winner Del Potro and is two wins from clinching an 18th Grand Slam title.
That would be just two behind Roger Federer and with an 11-5 career head-to-head advantage over the giant Argentine, he would usually be the favourite.
But this has been an unpredictable US Open with Federer knocked out by Australian world No 55 John Millman in the fourth round and Nadal coming close to joining him at the exit door.
Whoever gets through will have yet another major challenge on their hands in Sunday’s final where either Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori will await.
The 32-year-old Nadal needed four hours and 49 minutes to get past Dominic Thiem 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 in an epic quarterfinal.
Now, in his seventh semifinal at the US Open, Nadal is braced for another marathon with Del Potro, the third seed.
In July, Nadal came back from two sets to one down to beat Del Potro in the Wimbledon quarterfinals after nearly five hours.
A month earlier, Nadal had cruised past Del Potro in straight sets in the semifinals at Roland Garros on his way to an 11th title in Paris.
Nadal has been on court at this US Open just six minutes short of 16 hours.
He played back-to-back four-setters against Karen Khachanov and Nikoloz Basilashvili before recovering from breaks down in the third and fourth sets against Thiem.
Del Potro has unleashed 66 aces and spent three-and-a-half hours fewer on court than Nadal.
The 29-year-old is in his third semifinal at the US Open and sixth at the Slams.
That figure would have been higher had he not missed 14 Grand Slams in his career due to a series of wrist surgeries.
Meanwhile, two-time US Open champion Djokovic will be playing in his 11th consecutive semifinal in New York, just two months after defying the odds to lift a 13th Slam at Wimbledon.
The Serbian beat 55th ranked Asurtalian John Millman 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday. –