Nadal withdraws from Qatar Open, says ‘not ready to compete’
Former world no. 1 tennis star Rafael Nadal has further delayed his comeback after pulling out of the upcoming Qatar Open.
Three-time US Open champion Rafael Nadal advanced to his fifth US Open final defeating 24th seed Italian Matteo Berrettini in the first semifinal at the Flushing Meadows.
On Saturday, Nadal inched first-time semifinalist Berrettini 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium and sprinted into the final to face No 5 seed Daniil Medvedev on Monday.
The No 2 seed Spaniard has been in devastating form in this edition of the Grand Slam, losing just one set in his six victories, and that came in the fourth round against Marin Cilic.
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“The first set was a little frustrating because I had a lot of break points before the tie-break and he didn’t have any. In the tie-break, I was a little lucky because he had 5/2 and 4/0. But I survived at that moment and I finally got the break in the second and then the match completely changed,” Nadal was quoted as saying by the ATP Tour website.
“I started to play with more calm and aggression. I’m super happy to be back in the final of the US Open, ” he added.
Earlier in the day, Medvedev held off Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 to enter his first Grand Slam final.
The 23-year-old Russian is just the third player in the Open era to reach the Washington, Canada, Cincinnati and US Open finals in the same season, joining Ivan Lendl (1982) and Andre Agassi (1995).
“It’s really tough mentally. That’s what I’ve been missing before. Before, my best Slam result was fourth round. I felt like it’s just so tough to win a five-set match. I knew I was going the right way, I just had to fight for every set, for every point. Didn’t work out before,” Medvedev said post his win.
(With inputs from IANS)
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