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Patna : World No 5 Rafael Nadal, 35, Spain, survived Denis Shapovalov, Canada, scare to advance tomen’s singles semi-finals of Australian Open (AO) on January 25, 2022. Sixth seed Ndal, the winner of 20 Grand Slam sigles titles, edged past 14th seed Shapovalov in a five-set marathon 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Australia, on January 25, 2022, in quarter-final,.
Nadal overcame 20 Aces hammered by Shapovalov. Nadal fired 10 Aces only. The Spaaniard, the 2009 champion, committed 11 double faults during the match to 5 by the Canadian. Nadal won 3 break points to 2 by the Canadian. Both the players won 3 games each in a row during the match. Nadal, in all, won 148 points during the match to 135 points by Shapovalov, who had upset World No 3 Alexnder Zverev, 24, Germany, in 4th round in straight sets.
Nadal made a solid ,start easily winning the first two sets. Shapovalov, however, came back strongly and won the next two sets to take the match to the decider which Nadal won comfortably winning 1 break point in 5th set.