Nadal blasts his way into last four

Rafael Nadal demolished teenager Andrey Rublev 6-1 6-2 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the US Open last night.

Nadal was Rublev’s childhood idol but the 19-year-old may be slightly less fond of the Spaniard after this baptism of fire on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“It was a good match,” said the world No 1.

“For Andrey it was his first quarter-final and probably he played with more mistakes than usual.

“For me it’s an important victory, last two matches winning in straight sets is very good news for me. To be once again in the semi-finals in New York means a lot to me.”

Rublev was the youngest man to reach the last eight here in 16 years and he had his moments, mostly on the forehand, which is shaping up to be a weapon of real substance.

Garbine Muguruza will become world No 1 on Monday after Coco Vandeweghe continued America’s dominance of the women’s US Open by beating Karolina Pliskova.

Pliskova needed to at least match her achievement of last year by reaching the final to prevent Wimbledon champion Muguruza overtaking her.

She had a set point in the opener against Vandeweghe but could not take it and the 20th seed completed a 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 victory to reach her second grand slam semi of the season.

Vandeweghe joins compatriots Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens in the last four.