Speed Post News Network
Patna : Fourth seed Rafael Nadal, 35, Spain, on February 26, 2022, defeated top seed Daniil Medvedev, 26, Russia, in straight sets in semi-final lasting two hours at Mexican Open, an ATP 500 series outdoor hard courts events at Acapulco, Mexico,to, set up a final match against 6th seed Cameron Norrie, 26, UK. Norrie stunned 3rd seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 23, Greece, in straight sets in the other semi-final on the day.
World 5 Nadal, the winner of record 21 Grand Slam singles titles, beat reigning US Open Champion & World No 2 Medvedev 6-3, 6-3 in semi-final winning 3 break points and 3 games in a row. The Russian, who will become World No 1 on February 28, 2022, replacing Novak Djokovic, 34, Serbia, created 11 break point opportunities but failed to convert any of them. Nadal, on the other hand, created 6 break point opportunities and converted them of them. Nadal had also defeated Medvedev in Australian Open final 2022 in a five-set marathon lasting 5 hrs 24 minutes .
Nadal broke Medvedev’s service early in the first set and won it comfortably. The Spaniard, thereafter, broke Medvedev’s service in first and and 9th game of the second set to emerge triumphant. Medvevdev hammered 10 Aces during the match to just 2 by Nadal. The Russian, however, committed 7 double faults in the match to 1 by the Spaniard. Nadal, in all, won 81 points during the match to 63 by the Russian. Nadal won 52 service points to 35 points by Medvedev.
World No 12 Norries stunned World No 4 Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in semi-final in 78 minutes. winning 2 break points and 3 games in a row during the match. The Brit won 57 points in the match to 47 by Tsitsipas. The Greek fired 9 Aces during the match to 7 by Norrie.