Rafael Nadal yesterday handed rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas a tennis lesson as he drubbed him 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 in their Australian Open semi-final.
Greek 14th seed Tsitsipas had enjoyed a fairy-tale run to his first Grand Slam last four, including a win over Roger Federer, but found Nadal in ruthless form as he won in 1 hour, 46 minutes.
The Spanish second seed has not dropped his serve in an astonishing 63 straight games and has not lost a set on his way to the final, where he is to face either Novak Djokovic or Lucas Pouille.
Photo: AFP
“It’s been a great match, a great tournament,” Nadal said after a breathtaking display of almost perfect tennis. “I think I have played very well every day. After a lot of months without playing is probably this court, this crowd it gives me that unbelievable energy.”
Tsitsipas, 20, had been hailed as a new Greek god of tennis after beating Federer, but his ascent to the summit of his personal Olympus was comprehensively halted by the colossus called Nadal.
Nadal’s win put him into his fifth Australian Open final and keeps him on course to become the first man to win all four Grand Slams twice in the Open era if he can add to his sole Melbourne Park crown in 2009.
Tsitsipas, in just his second Australian Open and seventh appearance at a Grand Slam, was looking to become the first Greek player — man or woman — to reach a final in a major.
“He has everything to become a multi-Grand Slam champion,” Nadal said of the young Greek, who won the ATP Tour NextGen Finals.
“When at that age he is in the semi-finals, that says a lot of good things about him, and winning the matches that he won already, so, yeah, I hope to face him in important rounds in the next couple of years, hopefully,” he added.
In the women’s singles, Japanese star Naomi Osaka stormed into the final to set up a battle with Czech comeback queen Petra Kvitova for the Melbourne Park crown and world No. 1 ranking.
The 21-year-old outgunned seventh seed Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to reach her second successive Grand Slam decider after a breakthrough triumph over Serena Williams at last year’s US Open.
Osaka took the first set, then held off a barnstorming comeback by Pliskova, who survived four set points to eliminate Williams on Wednesday, but could not manage another miracle turnaround less than 24 hours later.
“I expected it, I expected a really hard battle,” Osaka said of Pliskova’s attempted return from a set and a break down to extend a 10-match winning streak.
Victory tomorrow would make her the first woman since Williams in 2015 to win the US and Australian Opens back to back, burnishing her Grand Slam credentials and confirming her superstar status.
The roof of Rod Laver Arena was closed amid sweltering temperatures approaching 40°C and Pliskova believed that it gave Osaka an edge.
“The conditions with the roof closed were perfect for her,” she said. “It wasn’t bad for me, but maybe she just loved it little bit more.”
Standing between Osaka and the Australian title is another Czech opponent, Kvitova, who is on an even better winning run than Pliskova — 11 straight matches.
The winner of the final is to become the new world No. 1, replacing Romania’s Simona Halep.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova, 28, also has a wealth of experience to draw on and it proved telling as she raced past unheralded American Danielle Collins in the other semi-final.
Eighth seed Kvitova defeated Collins, who had a dream tournament debut to reach the final four, 7-6 (7/2), 6-0 after the closure of the Centre Court roof gave her a boost.
Collins was matching Kvitova until play was interrupted late in the first set to shut the roof and the Czech said that she was struggling until then to find her best form.
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