Rafael Nadal survives against Shapovalov in Melbourne

Rafael Nadal is through to the Australian Open semifinal after a 4-hour battle against Denis Shapovalov 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3.

Rafael Nadal and Denis Shapovalov stayed true to their affinity to play amazing matches, by delievering one more down under. The match lasted over four hours and it saw Nadal be the better player early before the Canadian came back to win the next two sets and send it to a decider. Early on it was good stuff from both players as the match turned midway through the set. Shapovalov played a terrible service game to give Nadal the 3-1 lead and the Spaniard calmly held to win the opening one with 6-3.

The 2nd set was a similar one in the sense that Nadal patiently waited for that one terrible service game and once again he was right in doing so. It came at 3-3 and Nadal finished off the set with 6-4. The 3rd set is where Nadal hit a wall and Shapovalov generally played better. After failing to convert some early break points, the Canadian finally did it at 5-4 to win it 6-4.

The 4th set was another one where Shapovalov played better taking an early 4-1 lead and cruising to a 6-3 finish. Nadal asked for the trainer after the 4th set after feeling unwell with stomach issues. He continued and outplayed his opponent for the most part in the final set as Shapovalov had some very questionable decisions in the set that lost him the match.

All in all, Nadal finished it off with 6-3 to move on to the semifinal where he will face either Monfils or Berrettini. A good result for Nadal and a solid chance to reach the final if his physical status remains good. He looked very flat at times during this match.