ATP Acapulco: final! Rafael Nadal doesn't give Grigor Dimitrov a chance
Rafael Nadal has reached the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco. He beat Grigor Dimitrov in two sets.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Feb 29, 2020, 09:23 am
Although Dimitrov had a better start in both rounds with one break each, in the end Rafa won the result clearly with 6: 3, 6: 2. He now meets the American Taylor Fritz in the final of the hard court tournament.
There were seven breaks in the encounter between Nadal and Dimitrov in total, Nadal had five of them. One reason: the weak premium values of both players. Dimitrov scored only 48 percent of the points after the first serve and only 38 percent on the second, making him level with Nadal; however, the latter got 68 percent when the first service came. Nadal also used five of his six break chances - Dimitrov only two out of six.
After all, the game, which seemed clear on paper, lasted 1 hour and 43 minutes, the smoothest of the numbers on hard court for Nadal against the Bulgarian, who had celebrated his only victory over the Spaniard in 2016 on this surface in Beijing. The seven other duels on Hartpatz always went over at least three sets. In the overall balance, Nadal now has 13 wins and only 1 loss to Dimitrov.
Now Nadal against Fritz
Taylor Fritz had previously reached the final with a win over compatriot John Isner. After he was 2: 6, 2: 4 and 0:40 behind, he turned the game to 2: 6, 7: 5 and 6: 3. Fritz is in 24th place in the current liveranking - higher than ever and only just behind US number 1, namely Isner.
The final between Nadal and Fritz is the first meeting of the two so far on the ATP tour. "He has a strong service, fantastic strokes from the baseline," said Nadal in a brief look at his 22-year-old opponent. Nadal also went into the "crazy conditions" in Acapulco, the high humidity. But: "I increase my level, play better in every match," said the world ranking second.
So far, Nadal has not given a set in the entire course of the tournament.
Santiago: Garin's winning streak ended
At the parallel tournament in Santiago de Chile (ATP 250), the semi-finals are Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs Casper Ruud and Thiago Seyboth Wild vs. Renzo Olivo. Wildcard player Seyboth Wild benefited from the task of Cristian Garins after a 7: 6 (1). Garin's winning streak ended in an unfortunate way.