By Helen Livingstone
MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal set himself up for a semi-final against rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open on Tuesday, after defeating Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
The second seed broke early in every set, with the American only able to put pressure on the Spaniard’s serve midway through the second set, when Nadal spent nine minutes saving a couple of break points before holding.
Nadal, who despite having 17 Grand Slam titles only has one Australian Open trophy, has been on top form throughout the tournament, winning all his matches in straight sets.
“I feel very happy to be to be competing at this level,” said the 32-year-old, who cut short his 2018 season with a knee injury, in a post-match interview in Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver Arena.
The unseeded Tiafoe, who was playing in the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career, put up a good fight but could not match the Spaniard’s experience.
Nadal will next meet Tsitsipas —who has already booted defending champion Roger Federer out of the tournament —after the 20-year-old Greek defeated Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut to reach his first semifinal at a Grand Slam.
“He’s a player that during the last year has been improving every month,” Nadal said of Tsitsipas. “He’s able to win against the best players of the world already.”
Tsitsipas’ 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) victory made him the youngest player to reach the semifinal of a Grand Slam since Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open in 2007.
“It all feels like a fairy tale almost,” said the 14th seed, who has already been tipped as a future Grand Slam champion. “I’m just living the dream, living what I’ve been working hard for.”
Referring to his victory over Federer, he said: “That was a great win, it got people’s attention, so my biggest challenge was to stay concentrated, stay focused on that I wanted to go further in the tournament.
“I’m really happy because it shows that it didn’t happen accidentally.”
It was a tight contest between the veteran Spaniard and the Greek, with both players serving well and trying to outfox each other at the net.
But by the fourth set the Spaniard appeared to be flagging and in the tiebreak Tsitsipas took full advantage, racing away to seal his win.
In the women’s draw, the unseeded Danielle Collins and eighth seed Petra Kvitova also set up a semifinal clash.
Collins, who had never won a Grand Slam match before the tournament, stormed back from a set down to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
The 25-year-old had already made waves by trouncing second seed Angelique Kerber as well as 19th seed Caroline Garcia and 14th seed Julia Goerges on her path to the quarterfinal.
The 25-year-old was demolished in the first set of Tuesday’s match, after the Russian shot to a 4-1 lead, but Collins turned the momentum round in the second.
In the deciding set, she steamrolled her way to a 5-0 lead, and though Pavlyuchenkova managed to pull one game back, Collins maintained her composure to serve out the set and the match.
“My first time playing on Rod Laver (Arena) and I didn’t even practice on here before and I absolutely love it,” Collins said.
She takes on Kvitova, who delivered a convincing 6-1, 6-4 win over Australia’s Ash Barty and destroyed local hopes.
It was the first time the Czech, who was the victim of a knife attack at her home in late 2016, had reached a semifinal at a major since winning Wimbledon in 2014.
Becoming tearful after her victory she said she “didn’t really imagine to be back in this great stadium and playing with the best.”
The 28-year-old also praised Barty, whom she beat in the final of the Sydney International earlier this month and who was the first Australian woman to make the quarterfinal at the tournament since 2009.
“She is a such a nice person and you should be very proud of her,” she said.
In the on-court interview she was also asked about her upcoming opponent Collins, whom she beat in Brisbane earlier this month.
“I won it but … it was over three hours so hopefully will be less than three hours here,” she said. “But we’ll see. She doesn’t really have that experience but on the other hand she’s very fearless and she’s playing very, very aggressive.”
Collins said she was looking forward to the match, telling reporters, “She’s an incredible champion, has gone through a lot. We had a really great battle a couple weeks ago, one of the best matches I’ve played.”
