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Patna : Three-time champion and World No 2 Rafael Nadal, 33, Spain, sailed into the semi-finals of US Open for the 8th time defeating World No 21 Diego Schwartzman, 27, on September 5, 2019. Both the players won 4 games each in a row in the match.Argentina, in straight sets at Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York City, USA, in the quarter-finals. Second seed Nadal beat Schwartzman 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 dominating the match with his forehand winners.
Nadal won 8 break points in the match to 4 by Schwartzman. Both the players won 4 games each in a row in the match. The Spaniard, who had won the US Open title in 2010, 2013, and 2017, won 57 service points to 49 by the Argentinian. Nadal’s winning percentage on his first serve (71 %) was much higher than that of Schwartzman (57%). The winning percentage of both the players on their second serve was equal ( 50%). Nadal fired 5 Aces in the match to 4 Schwartzman, who had defeated World No 6 Alexander Zverev, 22, Germany, in Round of 16. Nadal had also reached SFs of US Open in 2018 but had retired due to injury trailing 0-2 sets to Juan Martin del Porto, Argentina.
Nadal, who now leads Schwartzman 8-0 Head to Head, will face World No 25 Matteo Berrettini, 23, Italy, in the semi-finals on September 7, 2019. Berrettini earlier defeated World No 13 Gael Monfils, 32, in a five-set slugfest 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 to reach US Open semi-finals for the first time.
The Italian fired 15 Aces in the match to 10 by Monfils. Monfils committed 16 double faults in the match to 6 by the Italian. Berrettini won 6 break points in the match to 5 Monfils. The Italian won 102 service points to 99 by Monfils.
In the other semi-finals, World No 5 Daniil Medvedev, 23, Russia, will face World No 78 Grigor Dimitrov, 28, Bulgaria. Dimotrov had stunned World No 3 and five-time champion Roger Federer, 38, Switzerland, in the quarter-finals on September 4, 2019.