MELBOURNE – Rafael Nadal said he has surprised himself with his outstanding level of tennis at this year’s Australian Open after crushing Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-final on Thursday.
The Spanish World No 2 handed the rising star a ruthless tennis lesson 6-2 6-4 6-0 in just 106 minutes.
Greek 14th seed Tsitsipas had enjoyed a fairytale run to his first Grand Slam last four, including a win over Roger Federer, but found Nadal in ruthless form in the Spaniard’s first tournament since the US Open in September
“Is not easy to be back after four months, five months, and play the way I am playing,” he said after undergoing ankle surgery in his extended off-season.
“Of course, I didn’t expect that at all,” Nadal told reporters after setting up a Sunday final against either top seed Novak Djokovic or Lucas Pouille.
“I believe that when you are older, you lose less the tennis when you are playing less.
“You don’t need that many matches to play well. That’s something that happened for the last two years for me.”
The Spanish second seed has not dropped his serve for an astonishing 63 straight games and has not lost a set.
“I played well, of course. Have been playing well during the whole event. Every match more or less, I think I did a lot of things well. Tonight was another one,” he said after a breathtaking display of almost perfect tennis.
“Probably the backhand was better today than the rest of the days.
“That’s important for me, too, because the forehand was working fantastic during the whole week, week-and-a-half, but the backhand was improving during the tournament.
“Tonight was even better than the previous rounds, no?”
Tsitsipas, 20, had been hailed as a new young Greek god of tennis after beating Federer, but his ascent to the summit of his personal Olympus was comprehensively halted by the colossus called Nadal.
"No, they don't need any message. They are good and they are improving every month." @RafaelNadal gives a classy message to the younger generation 🙏 #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/YbQNBRKnPH
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2019
“I have no idea what I can take from that match,” said a despondent Tsitsipas. “I wasn’t even close to getting something. I only got six games.”
Nadal’s win put him into his fifth Australian Open final and keeps him on course to become the first man to win all four Grand Slams twice in the Open era if he can add to his sole Melbourne Park crown in 2009.
Tsitsipas, in just his second Australian Open and seventh appearance at a Grand Slam, was looking to become the first Greek player – man or woman – to reach a final in a major.
“He has everything to become a multi-Grand Slam champion,” Nadal said graciously of the young Greek, who enjoyed a breakthrough 2018, winning the ATP Tour NextGen Finals.