Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal makes dream semi-final against Roger Federer clear!
Rafael Nadal won his quarter-final match against Sam Querrey 7: 5, 6: 2, 6: 2. The first set was contested, then the Spaniard played from the start - and delighted many tennis fans: because now it's against Roger Federer in the semifinals.
by Florian Goosmann from Wimbledon
last edit: Jul 10, 2019, 10:48 pm
Sam Querrey and Rafael Nadal caused an early laugh, with a time delay - and unintentionally.
Querrey had just resolutely transformed a return of the Spaniard that was too short and was about to switch to a relaxed side when referee Mohamed Lahyani baritoned the "Forty Fifteen" in Court 1 with his unmistakable voice and smiled at Querrey. He grinned as well, marched back when the audience laughed again. Nadal was also on the net now, he had already mentally attributed the game to Querrey, who a few seconds later, with a determined serve, then legally decided for the 3: 4 connection in round one.
Had Nadal laughed too? You couldn't see it entirely, probably not, he took the matter too seriously. When he had the early break to 2-1, he had already cheered vigorously. No wonder: it was only the second break against Querrey at the 2019 Wimbledon tournament, which had so far fended off 15 break chances against Dominic Thiem and Co. And Querrey, currently only 65th in the world rankings, had Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray on his shooting list in the course of his Wimbedon career.
# BETATHOMEWI #
Break or not: The 31-year-old Querrey played strong despite the early deficit. He then fended off three more break chances for Nadal, at the same time set balls to make it 3: 6, and in turn used his second to equalize 5: 5. A competitive service game followed, Nadal made the break again, sank to his knees twice cheering and used his fifth set ball to take the lead in another competitive service game.
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Nadal takes early breaks to victory
In round two, Nadal again managed to break 2: 1, Querrey was unable to take two chances to rebreak in 3: 2 for the Spaniard. Nadal then broke again to 5: 2 and served safely.
Both players were still at a high level, but the tension from the first set was over. Also because the second in the world rankings from Manacor pulled out early in the third round, this time right at the start. A double break initially prevented Querrey, but Nadal then managed to make it 4-1, shortly after the match was over.
Nadal has won a semi-final against Roger Federer , who previously won his parallel match against Kei Nishikori.
Federer and Nadal will meet for the 40th time on Friday. Most recently, Nadal won three sets in the semi-finals of the French Open, previously Federer had won five times. In the overall balance it is 24:15 for the Spaniard, Federer leads 2: 1 on grass.
However, the last duel on grass was eleven years ago: In 2008 Nadal beat the Swiss maestro in the Wimbledon final and perhaps the best match in tennis history with 9: 7 in the last set.