ATP:”Unstoppable Rafa” – Nadal in the semi-final in Shaghai

Rafael Nadal has catapulted himself into the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters after an effort against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

The dominance of the Spaniard resembles an elemental force.Nadal could not stop even a great playing Dimitrov.

In a high-class match, the scanning phase was quickly put aside and the spectators in the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena were spoiled with great exchanges of balls.

Dimitrov in particular got off to a great start and won a breakball in Nadal’s first serve game, which “Rafa” was able to fend off.As a result, the service games went smoothly on both sides.Nearly every point ended with a direct win or forced error – errors without need were hardly to be seen.At a score of 4:4 Nadal increased the pressure on Dimitrov and won the break with three forehand winners.The Mallorcan served solidly to the 6:4 set win from.

The second sentence should not be inferior to the first.On the contrary, both players gained ground and Dimitrov in particular began to perform magic.The one-handed backhand of the world’s number nine ran flawlessly and Nadal passed through the net in rows.Dimitrov produced some backhand winners around 150 km/h.Nadal, however, held on to it and acted aggressively as usual.The match was reminiscent of the grand semi-final at the Australian Open 2017 between the two players, which lasted four hours and 56 minutes.The two superstars also did not get away with anything in the Shanghai quarter-finals.When Nadal attempted to get a foot in his opponent’s serve games, Nadal responded with variable serves and a large repertoire of basic strokes.

This time Dimitrov did better and withstood Nadal’s pressure at 4:4 and served well.Nadal didn’t give himself any nakedness either, and put his opponent in bad trouble with a score of 5:5.Dimitrov, however, answered with 15:30 with wise tennis and worked his way through the 6:5 lead.Again and again the Bulgarians were heard talking to them and motivating themselves.After a smooth service game by Nadal, we went into the tiebreak.The Spaniard picked up again and won three consecutive points, which Dimitrov countered with two heavy serves.Dimitrov also played furiously in the subsequent rallies and scored two set points, the first of which he used to equalize the 7:6 (4) set.

There was no sign of fatigue at Dimitrov and Nadal.Especially the 26-year-old Bulgarian continued to shoot and produced one spectacular winner after another.Nadal played solidly and remained calm.

The level did not decrease even after more than two hours of playing time.Break chances were not available until 2-2 before Dimitrov surprised Nadal with two backhand passers-by and took the first small chance.With a strong backhand, the Spaniard pulled his head out of the loop and then moved to 3:2.Dimitrov then lost the thread and Nadal was able to break his opponent’s impact to the 4-2 lead.The 31-year-old confirmed his break and won 6-4,6-7 (4) and 6-3 at the end.

Nadal will now face Croatian Marin Cilic in the semi-final, who won 6-3 and 6-4 against Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

nearby

Here is the single panel in Shanghai