ATP Melbourne: Nadal in the final against surprise man Cressy
Tournament favorite Rafael Nadal is in the final of the ATP Tour 250 event in Melbourne after a two-set win against Emil Ruusuvuori. There Nadal meets the American Maxime Cressy.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jan 08, 2022, 01:52 pm
Rafael Nadal is about to win the 89th individual title in his outstanding career. The Spaniard is in the final of the 250cc event in Adelaide after 6: 4 and 7: 5 against the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori. Nadal came into the game well rested, his quarter-finals against Tallon Griekspoor were canceled due to the Dutchman's withdrawal.
With a score of 5: 3 in the second set, Nadal was already serving for the finals, Ruusuvuori managed the rebreak again. In his next service game, the favorite had to fend off a breakball. Instead, Nadal created facts after a playing time of 1:56 hours and used his first match point.
Cressy beats Dimitrov
Only Maxime Cressy stands between Nadal and his second triumph on the Australian continent (the first was at the 2009 Australian Open). The American, who was born in Paris, had to fend off two match points against Reilly Opelka in the round of 16 and prevailed on Saturday in the semifinals against Grigor Dimitrov with 7: 5 and 7: 6 (9). Cressy, 24 years old, is currently on position 112 in the ATP world rankings. He spent the last year almost exclusively on the Challenger Tour. And only won the title in Forli at the beginning of December.
As in the final in Adelaide, where Gael Monfils meets Karen Khachanov, there will also be a premiere in Melbourne: Nadal and Cressy have also never played against each other.
laver arena