RAFA’S THE KING OF THE JUNGLE

The Spaniard is two matches away from his 19th Grand Slam title, which would place him just one shy of Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 wins at the Majors.

Nadal overcame Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 on a hot and humid New York night to advance to the semi-finals of the US Open later today.

He will now face Italian Matteo Berrettini, 23, who saw off Gael Monfils in an epic five-set slugfest to set up the first Slam semi-final of his career.

The winner will play No5 seed Daniil Medvedev, another 23-year-old who has never previously qualified for a Slam semi-final or Grigor Dimitrov, who has five years on the Russian but has never reached this stage in New York.

Schwartzman broke Nadal’s serve four times, twice as many breaks as his rival had suffered all tournament, but still had no answer to the range and power of his rival.

Schwartzman said: “Rafa is the greatest fighter in the history of tennis. Out there, in the middle, he is like a lion in the jungle.

“He knows how to play the important moments every single time. I have played him eight times now and, at important moment, he has played better than me.

“Berrettini? Rafa is the favourite for that match. You know, Matteo played five strong sets against Monfils and this is his first time in a semi-final. every

“There are too many new things for him, so he needs to be ready for a guy who knows how to play those kind of matches.”

Nadal, 33, will contest his 33rd Slam semi-final today and not a single male player under the age of 30 currently on the tour has ever won one of the big four.

He swatted aside the big-cat comparisons as he prepared to face Roman Berrettini, the first Italian male to win through to the semifinal at the US Open since 1977.

Nadal, chasing his fourth US Open, said: “I’ve reached the four semi-finals of the four Slams this year and that’s a lot. But now is the moment to keep going.”