Rafael Nadal through to Australian Open final after epic five-set battle

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>The men&&num;8217&semi;s final at the Australian Open tennis will feature two players with a combined 31 grand slam titles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will go head to head after the Spaniard sealed an epic five-set victory over Grigor Dimitrov&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nadal triumphed 6-3 5-7 7-6 &lpar;7&sol;5&rpar; 6-7 &lpar;4&sol;7&rpar; 6-4 after just short of five hours on Rod Laver Arena and will now face Federer&comma; his greatest rival&comma; in a mouth-watering showdown on Sunday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dimitrov threatened to derail Melbourne&&num;8217&semi;s dream reunion by twice coming from behind to force a decider&comma; but Nadal was relentless&comma; powering his way through to his 21st major final and first since winning the French Open in 2014&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>That he meets Federer there will be viewed as the perfect closing chapter to a throwback Australian Open&comma; which now boasts four singles finalists aged 30 or older &&num;8211&semi; a first for a grand slam in the Open era&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Venus Williams&comma; 36&comma; and her sister Serena&comma; 35&comma; will fight it out for the women&&num;8217&semi;s title on Saturday&comma; in an exact replica of the finals bill at Wimbledon nine years ago&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nadal then defeated Federer 9-7 in the fifth set&comma; in what is widely considered the greatest match the sport has ever seen&comma; but few would have predicted the pair would be meeting again for their ninth grand slam final&comma; 34 major tournaments later&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nadal will be chasing his 15th grand slam title to edge one closer to Federer&comma; who stands on the brink of his 18th&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>&&num;8220&semi;It&&num;8217&semi;s a privilege&comma;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i> Nadal said on court afterwards&period; <i>&&num;8220&semi;It&&num;8217&semi;s a very special thing for both of us to be in the final of a major again and have the chance to compete against each other after a couple of years out with some problems&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;It was a moment we never thought we were ever going to have again&comma; to be in the final in Australia&comma; so we both feel very happy&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nadal will also be bidding to win his second Australian Open title&comma; which would see him become the first man in the Open era to win all four grand slam titles twice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He was nearly undone here by Dimitrov&comma; who came within a whisker of reaching his first major final and showed why many still consider him to be a multiple champion of the future&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The 25-year-old may well look back on three break points missed in the fifth set and wonder what might have been&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed76148d60a">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; function &lpar;&rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; false &equals;&equals;&equals; &lpar; window&period;isWatlV1 &quest;&quest; false &rpar; &rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&sol;&sol; Use Aditude scripts&period;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings &equals; window&period;tudeMappings &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings&period;push&lpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;divId&colon; 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed76148d60a'&comma;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;format&colon; 'belowpost'&comma;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub; &rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; document&period;readyState &equals;&equals;&equals; 'loading' &rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;document&period;addEventListener&lpar; 'DOMContentLoaded'&comma; window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub; else &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback&lpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;script>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>


Discover more from London Glossy Post

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

- Advertisement -
Exit mobile version