Rafael Nadal on Friday beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3 to reach the final of the ATP Mexico Open and insure the Russian would not celebrate his rise to No. 1 with the Acapulco trophy.
Medvedev was unable to avenge his loss to Nadal in the Australian Open final, where the Spaniard rallied from two sets down to triumph in five and claim a record-setting 21st Grand Slam singles title.
The 26-year-old Russian departs Mexico knowing he would move to No. 1 in the world tomorrow. He was assured of reaching the summit when Serbian star Novak Djokovic fell in the quarter-finals at Dubai on Thursday.
Photo: AFP
Nadal pushed his perfect record this year to 14-0, but it was not as simple as the scoreline might suggest.
He powered through the first set without facing a break point and broke Medvedev in the opening game of the second.
The 35-year-old world No. 5 found himself in trouble in the fourth game, fighting off four break points to preserve his advantage.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Medvedev pushed him again in a marathon sixth game, but failed to convert any of his seven break chances.
“I played some amazing points on the break points,” Nadal said.
“The second set was very emotional,” he added. “Daniil was playing very aggressive - drop shots, winners. It was a very difficult set.”
“I feel lucky to win that set, because he had a lot of chances,” he said.
Serving to extend the match at 5-3, Medvedev took a 40-0 lead before a spate of errors, including his seventh double fault of the contest, gave Nadal an opening and allowed him to wrap it up on his second match point.
Nadal was yesterday to face Cameron Norrie, who pushed his winning streak to eight straight matches with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
Britain’s 12th-ranked Norrie, who lifted the trophy at Delray Beach last week, broke in the ninth game of each set and calmly served them out.
Tsitsipas, who reached the Rotterdam final earlier this month, had not dropped a set all week until he ran into the in-form Briton — who faced just one break point in the match.
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