Nadal, Isner enter Wimbledon SF

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 1 in ATP rankings and second seed Rafal Nadal, 32, Spain, edged out World No 4 and 5th seed Juan Martin del Porto, 29, Argentina, in a five-set marathon in their quarter-finals match to reach the semi-finals (SF) of Wimbledon tennis championship after July 11, 2018, midnight.

Nadal, winner of 17 Grand Slam titles including 2 Wimbledon titles, will play winner of 12 Grand Slam titles including 3 Wimbledon titles Novak Djokovic, 31, Serbia, the 12th seed, in the semi-finals on July 13, 2018.

Nadal beat del Porto 7-5, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Wimbledon SF after 7 years. Nadal won the first set but lost the next two to del Porto. But, he rallied to win the 4th and 5th set beat del Porto in the quarter-finals. Nadal had also defeated del Porto in the US Open SF in in 2017.

del Porto though hammered 33 Aces in the match to just 3 by Nadal. But, he also committed 7 double faults to 5 by Nadal. Nadal won 4 break points compared to 2 by del Porto. Both the players won 3 games in a row each in the match. Nadal is now 11-5 head to head against del Porto. He had also defeated del Porto in the semi-finals of French Open 2018.

World No 10 John Isner, 33, USA, the 9th seed, also entered the SF defeating World No 32 Milos Raonic, 27, Canada, the 13th seed, in the quarter-finals in four-sets 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3. Taonic hammered 31 Aces in the match to 25 by Isner. Raonic, however, committed 6 double faults to 3 by Isner. Isner’s winning percentage on his first serve was much better than that of his rival. Isner also won three break points.

Isner will play Kevin Anderson, 32, South Africa, in the semi-final on July 13. Anderson defeated top seed and 8 times champion Roger Federer, 36, Switzerland, in a five-set marathon coming back from two sets down on July 11.