Twenty-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal beat 14th seed Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 in a match that lasted for four hours and eight minutes to enter men's singles semi-final of Australian Open 2022 here at the Rod Laver Arena.
The Spaniard made a confident start breaking the Canadian in the fourth game of the opening set to take an important 3-1 lead. From there, Nadal comfortably went on to win the first set 6-3.
The second set started on a competitive note till 3-3 but the 2009 Champion broke the Canadian in the seventh game to take the lead. Nadal held his serve to win the second set 6-4 and take a two-set lead.
Just when it seemed that sixth seed Nadal would run away with the match, Denis Shapovalov fought his way back. Both the players held their serves and in the tenth game the Canadian broke Nadal to win the third set 6-4 and take the match to the fourth set.
The Canadian took the momentum of the third set into the fourth breaking Nadal in the fourth game to take a 4-1 lead. Shapovalov went on to win the fourth set 6-3 to make it two sets apiece and take the match to the deciding set.
In the fifth and final set Rafael Nadal hit a double fault to concede a break point in the opening game but the Spaniard saved it and broke Shapovalov in the next game to take a 2-0 lead. In the third game as well Nadal saved two break points as the game went to three deuces to finally take a 3-0 lead. The 20-time grand slam champion held his serve to win the fifth set 6-3 to enter the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2022.
( With inputs from ANI )
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