The Australian Open saw its first quarter finals match being played at the Rod Laver Arena today morning at 8:45 AM as Rafael Nadal the 20 time grand slam winner took on Dennis Shapovalov the young Canadian sensation.
What a match to start the second week at Rod Laver Arena as the two greats of their respective generations played an intense five set match under the extreme heat in Melbourne.
Nadal, as he’s done in the rounds leading up to the Quarter-Finals, dominated in the first two sets as he won 6-3, 6-4. The third set looked to be going on well for Nadal until he started facing some health issues in his stomach. This saw the Spaniard losing a lot of energy in the third and fourth set.
The young Canadian, Shapovalov took the third and fourth set as he figured out Rafa’s service and started taking advantage as he won 6-4, 6-3.
The crowd rallied behind both the players displaying an intense game and style on court as the match got to the fifth set. Nadal started with a service game and found a way to rally after his health issues in prior sets.
Nadal broke Shapovalov’s service early on in the fifth set as he led 2 games to 0. The wily old veteran took advantage of his experience under pressure especially in the fifth set. Dennis tried to break Rafa’s serve late in the fifth set but failed to do so and Rafa took the win at 6-3 as Shapovalov extended his unforced errors.
Nadal now awaits the winner of Monfils vs Berrettini later today, whom he will play on Friday in the Semi-Finals.