The Spanish tennis player defeated the American Tommy Paul in a tough match of more than two hours (6-0, 7-6(5))

Rematch. That was what Daniil Medvedev hoped to have when he lost the Australian Open in a plethoric final. Acapulco, an ATP 500 tournament, was a good opportunity, although not enough or comparable. On Friday in the Mexican port they will face each other for a place in the final of the tournament. A confrontation that is quite a delicacy. It’s the clash between the next foreman at the top of the world rankings against the great among the great. The collector of 21 Grand Slams , Rafa Nadal, suffered to beat Tommy Paul in a second set that choked him a bit and that he had to solve in the tie break(6-0, 7-6(5) in two hours and three minutes. “I played a very, very good first set. Sometimes when you win a set like that, you need to start the second set well. It wasn’t like that. crazy”, confessed the Spaniard.

Rafa Nadal already has 13 wins in a row, also thanks to his left ankle that has given him so many problems in recent years. To reach the last victory he collided with Tommy Paul, who in the first round had Matteo Berrettini as his opponent . Fortune favored the American as the Italian left the match due to abdominal discomfort. Paul met Dusan Lajovic in the second round, whom he beat in three sets.

In the first assault, Rafa Nadal came out very fine. He did not miss any opportunity to show his repertoire. One sweep and done. The Acapulcan night suited the Spaniard well, who in 27 minutes destroyed the American. Or so he believed. “I did bingo in all the ideas that came to me,” he commented after the game. In the second set the atmosphere in the Mexican stands turned hostile. Before any service of both, the cries of supposed support provoked all series of “Shh, shh!” from another sector of the stadium to the extent that on a couple of occasions the chair umpire begged them to stop doing it. They even did it when nothing was happening. It was a way of challenging the referee. “There’s no need to make noises when there aren’t any,” he requested. At the same time, the American took the lead on the scoreboard. Nadal, that had been seen without problems in Acapulco, even appealed a point that seemed to be legitimate but not even the hawk eye benefited him. Nadal tried to recover, but Paul slipped away and made it big through other people’s mistakes.

Nadal, to his own, wanted to overcome a series of bad services. The humidity played against him and he played with his soaked shorts and that affected, according to the Spaniard himself, the balls that became heavy when he kept them in his pocket. It was not the night to find an unattainable loophole for the American. Tommy Paul managed that to put the second set in his favor by two points. Little by little he pushed it to the limit. When the score of the second act put the 3-5 in favor of Paul, Nadal unleashed the fury to make it 4-5 and then to deny the third set to his opponent. To get to 5-5 he had to resist and to turn it around he had to overcome his own mistakes. And, when Nadal had a chance at match point , he let the opponent slip away from him. the tie breakit was the end of the alley. Nadal took him for another match point and after all the suffering he was able to beat him. He celebrated furiously, the second set lasted up to 96 minutes, and he is already waiting to jump into the ring against a tough Medvedev. “He is one of the most demanding rivals you can find,” he opined.

Medvedev, meanwhile, collided with Yoshihito Nishioka. The Japanese was a good challenge for the newly proclaimed number one in the world. The fact that Novak Djokovic has lost his privileged place happened in Dubai when he fell to Jiry Veseley (6-4 and 7-6 (4)) in the quarterfinals. That gives the Russian to be the best at the moment. He showed himself in the quarterfinals with a greater momentum. The fans noticed him and he pampered him. Not every day Mexico can boast that it has the best on its field.

Nishioka made things difficult for Medvedev by losing respect for him on serves, attacks and counterattacks. The European, however, did not want his rival to choke on him. In the first set he hit up to seven aces (6-2). Already in the second, Nishioka replied fiercely by putting the board with three games in favor against a Russian who reduced the intensity. Only that it stung Medvedev’s pride, who managed to turn around (6-3) an intense game of one hour and eleven minutes. Stefanos Tsitsipas neutralized the American Marcos Giron (6-3 and 6-4), to also get into the top four of Acapulco, and will play against the British Cameron Norrie.

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