Australian Open: Nadal blows away lead, succumbs to Tsitsipas
Melbourne: For the 225th time in his illustrious career, Rafael Nadal grabbed a two-set lead in a Grand Slam match. For only the second time, he blew that big edge and lost.
A couple of uncharacteristically sloppy overheads and a framed backhand in a third-set tiebreaker began Nadal’s undoing, and his bid for a men’s-record 21st major championship eventually ended in the Australian Open quarterfinals Wednesday with 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-5 loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
At his put-the-ball-where-he-wants-it best in the early going, Nadal went ahead rather easily, winning 27 consecutive points on his serve in one stretch and running his streak of consecutive sets won at major tournaments to 35, one shy of Roger Federer’s record for the professional era. Nadal and Federer are currently tied at 20 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other man in the history of tennis.
But Tsitsipas never wavered and that surprisingly poor tiebreaker by the 34-year-old Nadal – thinking too far ahead, perhaps? — helped hand over the third set and begin the epic comeback. The only other occasion in which Nadal went from a two-set edge to a defeat in a Slam came at the 2015 U.S. Open against Fabio Fognini (who lost to Nadal in the fourth round at Melbourne Park this year).
So now, instead of Nadal attempting to continue his pursuit of Federer, it will be Tsitsipas – a 22-year-old from Greece with a flashy game – who will meet 2019 U.S. Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals Friday. Neither Tsitsipas nor Medvedev has won a Grand Slam tournament. In the other men’s semifinal, 17-time major champion and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic will face 114th-ranked qualifier Aslan Karatsev, who is making his Grand Slam debut.
Medvedev moved into the third Grand Slam semifinal of his career and pushed his current winning streak to 19 matches by beating good pal Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-2
The women’s semifinals Thursday are Serena Williams vs. Naomi Osaka, and Jennifer Brady vs. Karolina Muchova. Brady reached her second Grand Slam semifinal in a row by beating fellow American and good friend Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. Brady’s opponent Muchova rallied past No. 1 Ash Barty 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
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