Australian Open: Nadal makes his way to the semi-finals

Rafael Nadal staggered, but did not fall: the ailing tennis player showed great fighting heart at the Australian Open, and is now only two victories away from his only Grand Slam record. Despite obvious physical problems, the Spaniard worked his way up to 6:3, 6:4, 4:6, 3:6, 6:3 against Canadian Denis Shapovalov (22) and reached the semi-finals in Melbourne. Seventh time.

After 4:08, Nadal turned his first match point and was widely celebrated by the public for this energetic performance. The 35-year-old said: “I was utterly devastated after such a difficult and warm day. It is unbelievable for me to be in the semi-finals. I didn’t feel good in my stomach. I was lucky because I was in the fifth and served superbly” .

Shapovalov beat Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (Hamburg) in three sets in the round of 16. In the semi-finals on Friday, Nadal expects to face Matteo Berrettini (Italy) or France’s Gael Monfils. He has already reached the final in Melbourne five times – but only managed to win in 2009. Nadal initially showed a strong performance in the quarter-final against Shapovalov.

However, at the end of the third sentence, the dominance collapsed – a little later, Mallorcan took a break from the treatment, noted the presence of pain in the stomach area and asked the doctor to give him some medicine. Changing sides, continuing to blow cold air in his face from a coolant hose, before the decisive round, he took a short break in the locker room – and came back on his gums with irrepressible fighting qualities against the overheated Canadian. .

With another Australian Open title, Nadal could make history in the absence of Novak Djokovic (dismissed) and Roger Federer (injured). If he wins the tournament, he will be crowned the only Grand Slam champion. All Big Three players are currently in 20 major titles. By defeating Shapovalov, Nadal is the fourth oldest player to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open. In all four Grand Slam tournaments, the Spaniard was in the top four for the 36th time – only Federer (46 semi-finals) and Djokovic (42) managed to achieve this so often.

Meanwhile, double specialist Tim Poetz (Frankfurt/Main) dream exploded with his first Grand Slam title in Australia – crowd favorites were one size too big. The German Davis Cup player and his New Zealand partner Michael Venus were beaten by local champions Thansi Kokinakis and Nick Kyrgios 5:7, 6:3, 3:6 in the quarter-finals in a hot atmosphere.

The Kia Arena was like a witch’s cauldron, and fans cheered enthusiastically every time the two Australians won a point. At times, the cheer went beyond what was reasonable, for example with boos at the introduction of Pütz and Venus. By winning the second set, they took some air – but only for a while. Kyrgios in particular continued to whip the crowd with sprawling gestures. Pütz asserted that he did not play well with his partner, but “didn’t like the atmosphere very much,” he said, “and I also think that’s a very good thing. Tennis is entertainment, but that’s very much closed.”

But there are no real rules for these situations, the referee did her best. “It was tough there,” the 34-year-old said, adding that Kyrgios went too far: “What he does between the first and second serve has nothing to do with entertainment. It’s unsportsmanlike.” Pütz was the last German to compete in singles or doubles at the Australian Open. Recently, he made quite a stir when he reached the semi-finals with the German national team in the Davis Cup alongside Kevin Krawetz. At the Grand Slam level, his best results were the French Open quarter-finals (2020, 2021).