Rafael Nadal received a hero’s welcome from fans as he made his way onto Louis Armstrong Stadium for Media Day at the 2019 US Open, but the three-time champion shared that the opposite – a normal upbringing filled with both fun and challenging moments – has been instrumental to his success on the ATP Tour.

“You need to be prepared for the tough moments,” he said. “If you overprotect the young kids when they have problems – because in life you are going to have problems at some point – probably they are not very well-prepared…

“Probably that’s one of the reasons I have been able to be very competitive at very young stages of my career. I probably got a normal education, not like superstar education. I just played on the street with my friends. I had a very really normal life. That helps you to grow with the normal education.”

Nadal’s best memory from Flushing Meadows, rather than being the completion of his career Grand Slam here in 2010, was borne from one of those tough moments. The Spaniard missed the second half of the 2012 season with a left knee injury, and returned to finish 2013 as the year-end No. 1 with 10 titles from a career-high 14 finals.

“I think the match I have the best memory [of] probably is the final of 2013,” he said. “[It was an] important victory for me after a big and long injury in 2012. Being able to win a Grand Slam here on hard courts again was so special for me.”

The 33-year-old Spaniard, who added another US Open title to his collection in 2017, is still going strong 16 years after his tournament debut. Ahead of the season’s final major, Nadal claimed a record-extending 35th ATP Masters 1000 title at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal (d. Medvedev). Since mid-May, he’s won 21 of his past 22 matches and, in the process, became the first player this season to qualify for the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals.

“Of course, arriving to the big events with good feelings helps,” said the World No. 2. “My last events have been win Rome, win in Roland Garros, semi-finals in Wimbledon, and winning Montreal. That’s a positive feeling, positive memory on my mind. That helps for the confidence.”

Nadal’s sole loss during that period came against Roger Federer at Wimbledon, but the earliest he could face either the Swiss or defending champion Novak Djokovic would be in the final, with his chief rivals in the top half of the draw.

“I have plenty of work before that to know if I have an advantage or not,” he said of being in the other half. “So let’s see if I am able to do my work for my side.”

This year, Nadal is seeded to meet Roland Garros finalist Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals. But his first test will come against Australian John Millman, who scored a big upset last year in New York when he defeated Federer.

Nadal and Thiem played arguably the most memorable match of the 2018 US Open, when the Spaniard claimed a 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) victory in a quarter-final battle that wrapped up at 2:04 in the morning. Nadal, who also played lengthy matches against Karen Khachanov and Nikoloz Basilashvili earlier in the tournament, ended up retiring in his semi-final match against Juan Martin del Potro with a knee injury.

Read: A Night To Remember As Nadal Survives Thiem In Classic

“My feeling on the knees are better this year than last year,” he said. “Last year the problem was I played three or four very, very long matches. That’s tough…

“I hope to be ready for it. I think I am playing well. I am practising the right way during these days. Of course, winning in Montreal helps. I am ready for the action.”

Denis Shapovalov reached his second semi-final of the season on Friday at the Winston-Salem Open, beating Russian Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6(4) to make the last four at the ATP 250 event.

Before this week, the #NextGenATP Canadian hadn’t won back-to-back matches since his last semi-final, at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March. But Shapovalov, with former World No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny in his coaching box on a trial basis, has turned his season around in North Carolina.

The 20-year-old hit 10 aces and won 61 per cent of his second-serve points against Rublev, who beat seven-time Western & Southern Open champion Roger Federer last week in Cincinnati.

Shapovalov will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who beat #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-1. Hurkacz beat Shapovalov in March at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, their lone FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter, and is also trying to reach his first ATP Tour final.

In the other semi-final, top seed Benoit Paire will meet American Steve Johnson. Paire overcame a mid-match dip to beat Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-3. The Frenchman is going for his third ATP Tour title of the season this week.

Johnson, who won an ATP Challenger Tour event in Aptos two weeks ago, is through to his first ATP Tour semi-final of the season. The 29-year-old outlasted 14^th seed John Millman of Australia 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Roger Federer has won the US Open five times, but all of those victories in Flushing Meadows came in consecutive years from 2004-08. Nevertheless, the 38-year-old arrives in New York confident as he begins his pursuit of a 21st Grand Slam title.

“We were talking on the practice court yesterday or two days ago, this is probably the best I’ve felt in years coming into the US Open again, which is encouraging,” Federer said.

The Swiss superstar has long enjoyed success at the season’s final major, advancing to at least the fourth round in his past 17 appearances, dating back to 2001. But since his string of championships here, Federer has made the final just twice, in 2009 and 2015.

“It hasn’t always been easy here,” Federer said. “Two years ago I came in with a back issue a little bit, I had a struggle early on with five-setters. I remember Tiafoe and others. That set the tone the tournament was going to be tough. Last year I struggled with the heat against Millman… 2016 I missed it entirely.

“I mean, look, I have no explanation why it didn’t go as well as it did. I think [I was] a bit unlucky [with health] for sure, also. That was part of it.”

Although Federer has a strong 85-13 record at this tournament, he has not lifted the trophy in New York in 11 years. The World No. 3 doesn’t feel an itch to rejoin the winners’ circle here just because of that compared to his usual desire to triumph, though.

“I’m not putting extra pressure on myself. I know it’s going to be tough. I’m not coming in as the overwhelming favourite like maybe I did back in 2006 or 2007. I’m very much aware of how I need to approach this tournament mentally,” Federer said. “What I’m very proud of is I’ve had a very consistent last year and a half, two years, ever since my back locked up on me in Montreal. I struggled here as well, struggled for quite a while.

“I’ve been playing well. Playing well in Slams recently, which has been great. I think also the win over Rafa in the semis [of Wimbledon] was big for me. Also the finals, the way I played that in Wimbledon, is going to give me some extra confidence.”

Federer was desperately close to claiming his ninth Wimbledon title, earning two championship points against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. But the Serbian was able to capitalise on a missed forehand from the Swiss and a passing shot from his own racquet to stay in the match, before emerging victorious after a final-set tie-break at 12-all.

“I struggled a little bit the first couple days. At the same time I was caravaning with my kids. I didn’t have that much time thinking about all the missed opportunities. I was setting up tables and organising my life for my four children, driving around the beautiful countryside in Switzerland,” Federer said. “Sometimes you have flashbacks, things like, ‘Oh, I could have done that, should have done that.’ The next day you’re having a glass of wine with your wife thinking, ‘The semis was pretty good, even the finals was pretty good.’ You go in phases.

“We put up a great fight. Somebody had to win. Novak was the better man on the day. He was tough. I don’t know. I’ve been there before, had some tough losses along the way. So many great wins, as well. I was just more upset rather than being sad. I think being upset made me get over that finals much easier than being sad, dwelling over it too much.”

In his only tournament since Wimbledon, Federer was upset in the third round of the Western & Southern Open by Andrey Rublev. The last three times Federer lost that early in Cincinnati (‘08 R16, ‘06 R32 & ‘04 R1), he went on to lift the US Open trophy.

“I’m happy where my game is at. Cincinnati might be a good thing that I lost early, who knows. It’s maybe one of those things that sometimes needs to happen, like when I won at the Australian Open, went to Dubai, lost first round in ’17, then went on to win Indian Wells and Miami,” Federer said. “Maybe the same thing, played a great Wimbledon. Needed to get knocked down in Cincy, get my act together, train hard. That’s what I did. I’m ready for the US Open.

“It’s going to be a tough tournament to win, no doubt about it. I feel like I’m part of that group who can do it.”

All four Winston-Salem Open singles quarter-finals and both doubles semi-finals will be played on Friday, weather permitting, after nearly a complete washout postponed action on Thursday at the ATP 250 event. Among the singles quarter-finals to watch, top seed Benoit Paire will face 11th seed Pablo Carreno Busta. Their match was suspended with Paire leading in the first set 4-3.

Andrey Rublev, Roger Federer’s Cincinnati conqueror, is to meet second seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada.

In doubles, Jamie Murray/Neal Skupski will try to reach their first team final against top seeds Marcelo Melo/Lukasz Kubot, and Belgians Sander Gille/Joran Vliegen will meet American wild cards Nicholas Monroe/Tennys Sandgren. View Friday’s Complete Schedule

#NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner, 18, is on the verge of qualifying for his first Grand Slam. The teenager fought past 28-year-old Croatian Viktor Galovic 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 in two hours, 49 minutes to move into the third and final round of US Open qualifying on Thursday.

Sinner, No. 131 in the ATP Rankings, won only one more point than Galovic and will next meet 24-year-old Spaniard Mario Vilella Martinez, No. 202 in the ATP Rankings. Martinez beat Aussie Akira Santillan 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2.

Sinner won his first tour-level match in May at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome, beating American veteran Steve Johnson in three sets. The teenager then won his second ATP Challenger Tour title three weeks ago in Lexington.

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Czech Jiri Vesely, who reached a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 35 in April 2015, beat 23^rd seed Jason Jung 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 and will face 15^th seed Paolo Lorenzi for a place in the main draw. The 37-year-old Italian beat Frenchman Enzo Couacaud 7-6(3), 6-3.

Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez swept American Noah Rubin 6-1, 7-6(3) and will meet Constant Lestienne of France. The 27-year-old Paris resident beat Italian Alessandro Giannessi 6-3, 6-0.