Rafael Nadal’s fighting spirit is one of his trademark qualities. It’s played a crucial role in pulling himself up from the brink of defeat on numerous occasions throughout his career, as well as bouncing back from several serious injuries.

But for the Spaniard, it’s not the biggest key to his success.

“I think my success is not only because of the spirit of the fight,” Nadal said after his US Open quarter-final win on Wednesday over Argentine Diego Schwartzman. “There is lots of things after this.”

Nadal believes that fighting spirit is common on the ATP Tour and his less overt characteristics have played a bigger role in his achievements. The second seed treats every player across the net as though they’re the toughest opponent he’ll face and remains unflappably positive in the bleakest of moments.

A humble attitude doesn’t necessarily make for a headline-grabbing image, but it does lead to 18 Grand Slam crowns and 83 tour-level singles titles.

“I think I had stable character during all my life, all my career. That helps to be…mentally focussed, mentally relaxed and mentally always ready to respect every opponent, to play every point, to play every game, to play every set and every match until the end,” Nadal said. “But of course the stories say that I have been a good fighter on court with good character, positive character, and I am not the only one. There is a lot of ones that fight a lot.”

Nadal will need all of his positive attributes for his semi-final against Italian Matteo Berrettini, the No. 24 seed. The Spaniard is two matches away from a fourth crown in New York and his 19th Grand Slam title, which would put him one shy of all-time leader Roger Federer (20). But as usual, he is only looking ahead to Friday’s showdown.

“I need to be ready to play my best tennis,” Nadal said. “Today I made a step forward, in my opinion. That match gave me confidence. Two matches in a row against two tough opponents. [This is] a moment to increase the level a little bit more and I really believe that I can do it.”

Scorelines can be deceiving, and that certainly held true in the last quarter-final of the 2019 US Open. Three-time champion Rafael Nadal defeated Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in the early hours of Thursday morning, but the Spaniard’s victory was anything but straightforward.

Nadal overcame a spirited effort from the No. 20 seed to win his eighth consecutive quarter-final in Flushing Meadows in what felt like a titanic battle, not a straight-sets win. The legendary lefty earned double-break leads in each of the first two sets, but was unable to hang onto those on either occasion.

“He’s one of the best players of the world. When he’s playing well, he’s able to win against everybody,” Nadal said. “Tonight was for me [a] tough match. I’m very happy for the victory.”

However, when it mattered most, Nadal maintained the more consistent level, advancing to his eighth semi-final in New York after two hours and 47 minutes. The Spaniard has long been dominant in major quarter-finals, improving to 33-7 at this stage of Slams with five of those losses coming at the Australian Open. This is Nadal’s 11th tournament in 2019, and he has reached at least the last four in 10 of them.

“Diego is playing unbelievable. I need to play my best in the next round to have the chance to be in the semi-finals,” Nadal said after his fourth-round victory. That prediction proved to be spot on.

Nadal crushed 35 winners and broke serve eight times to find a way to win against an opponent who refused to back down. Many times, Nadal’s unrelenting groundstrokes typically push players further behind the baseline as a match wears on. But Schwartzman tried to go blow-for-blow with the second seed, playing aggressively whenever possible.

His effort was not enough, though, as Nadal earned a semi-final showdown against Matteo Berrettini, who had never made a Slam quarter-final before this tournament. The Italian outlasted Frenchman Gael Monfils in an epic five-setter earlier in the day. It will be the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. 

“I really believe that if you want to win tournaments, you need to go through tough opponents like I had against Marin, today against Diego. He was playing great the whole event and now [Matteo is] another player that is playing great,” Nadal said. “Let’s see. I need to play my best, and I think today I made a step forward.”

Nadal sprinted to a 4-0 lead in the opener. But once Schwartzman found his rhythm in the baseline rallies, he was able to engage with the World No. 2. And seemingly out of nowhere, Schwartzman got both breaks back to get to 4-4, earning two break points to give himself a chance to serve for the set. But Nadal hung in there to avoid losing a third consecutive service game, and Schwartzman hit a backhand into the net on set point.

Again, Nadal appeared poised to pull away when he bashed a forehand before putting away an overhead off the bounce to break for 3-1 in the second set. Quickly, the 18-time Slam titlist earned another break to move to 5-1. But Schwartzman never went away, making an amazing series of gets at 15-0, finally shoveling a forehand winner down the line before raising both arms to get the crowd involved.

In the moment, it seemed like Schwartzman was simply enjoying his time in the world’s biggest tennis stadium. But it showed that he was giving Nadal all he can handle, again recovering both breaks to return to 5-5 as chants of ‘Olé’ rang out through the New York night. However, Nadal again was too strong in crunch time, hammering a forehand down the line to earn two set points, and converting the second of those when Schwartzman missed a forehand into the net.

Nadal received a visit from the trainer at 2-1 in the third set, getting his forearm rubbed for what he later said was a cramp. But the Spaniard won the final four games of the match, punctuating his triumph with a big roar.

“I’m feeling good. Today was [a] very humid day, very heavy day. I had some cramps in the end of the second and first five games, six games of the third. And then I took some salt, that’s all, and then [it] was over,” Nadal said. “The body is in good shape, I think. No big problems. Just of course now [I’m] a little bit tired, long day, 1:30 am, need to go to sleep. But I really believe that I’m going to be in good shape.”

Schwartzman, who also reached the last eight here two years ago (l. to Carreno Busta), was trying to reach his first major semi-final. When the next ATP Rankings are released, he will become the No. 1 player from Argentina.

“[Rafa is like] a lion in the middle of the jungle. He’s a fighter. He knows how to play the important moments every single time,” said Schwartzman, who trails Nadal 0-8 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. “I played eight times, and every important moment he played better than me.”

Did You Know?
– Nadal is the only player remaining in the field who has reached a Grand Slam final. The only other player left who has made a major semi-final is Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated Roger Federer on Tuesday evening.

– This is the first time since 2008 that Nadal has made the semi-finals or better at all four majors.

Who says players give canned answers during interviews? Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas put a hilarious twist on their Q&A’s during a segment that aired Tuesday on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’.

The trio joined WTA players for Fallon’s challenge to insert an unconventional statement into one of their responses. Can Murray work in talking about ‘kitten naps’ as part of his pre-tournament preparation? How about Djokovic incorporating ‘When the score is deuce, the juice gets loose’ into his reflections on this year’s Wimbledon final? Will Tsitsipas figure out how ‘Slap your dad, call him Brad’ can be used to explain his training regime?

Play the video below to find out!

#USOpen stars such as Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) and @MariaSharapova sneak random phrases into their interviews in Drop It In! #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/HFjybWsvcx

— Fallon Tonight (@FallonTonight) September 4, 2019

Djokovic and Tsitsipas will compete next week at Laver Cup, while Murray returns later this month in Zhuhai.

When Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies arrived at the New York Open this February, the Germans had played only three tour-level events together. Neither player had earned much experience on the ATP Tour beyond that.

But not only did they capture the trophy there; they would become the breakout doubles team of 2019. Krawietz and Mies claimed glory at Roland Garros and now they are into the semi-finals of the US Open. They certainly didn’t foresee any of that happening.

“I would have asked you how many beers you had to ask me this question, honestly,” Mies said, cracking a laugh. “I mean it’s unbelievable. I wouldn’t believe you if you would have told us that in New York in February.”

It’s as if the Germans have come full circle. They did not drop a set on the indoor hard courts of Long Island’s ATP 250 tournament seven months ago, and now, they’re back in New York for more. This time, they are only two victories from earning a second major crown.

“Winning our first ATP title meant so much for us. It was such a big moment and big relief that really showed us we belonged on the ATP Tour,” Mies said. “We were just coming from the Challenger Tour and making the next step getting into more ATP events at the start of the year. Then we won one title right away, so that gave us a lot of confidence moving forward.”

The first time Krawietz and Mies played together was at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Meerbusch, Germany, in August 2017. But due to a knee injury Mies was dealing with, they did not compete as a team again until April 2018.

But they wasted little time finding a groove, winning two Challengers and reaching two additional finals at that level by Wimbledon, where they qualified and reached the Round of 16.

“We played the first tournament and clicked from the start,” Krawietz said. “We have good communication and I think it fits good. On court, off court also. It’s important to understand [one another] off court also because we are travelling all the time together and just improve our game.”

The question is, how has this tandem found such a high level without much experience on the sport’s biggest stages, let alone with one another?

“Andi is unbelievable at the net with the best reactions. I feel good on my serve of course because he helps me a lot, so I feel very comfortable on my serve. I have to hit the right spots and then he can cover the good spots and take whatever he feels,” Krawietz said. “On the returns, we are both returning good. We have no big weakness. We can improve of course here and there, but I think that’s a good thing.”

“German machines!” Mies interjected, with a smile.

“It’s not normal that you play with a guy and you start winning right away. You have to find a way and you have to find the right chemistry to feel comfortable on the court,” Mies said. “We’re different players, we’re different characters, but it just clicks.

“Kevin is a more relaxed guy, a little bit more calm and I’m more an emotional guy, emotional player. It’s a little bit like fire and ice. It just really helps me when I’m a bit too emotional, he calms me down. When it’s close, he’s always very relaxed. It helps me to relax. When he’s a bit too relaxed and he’s a bit low with the energy, I can push him up.”

The Germans followed different paths. Krawietz, a 27-year-old, tried his hand in singles, climbing as high as No. 211 in the ATP Rankings. Mies, who is 29, attended Auburn University before moving onto life as a professional tennis player, focussing on doubles.

But from the moment they stepped on the court together, Krawietz and Mies have proven a dynamic duo. A year ago, they were simply battling to be able to compete on the ATP Tour. Now, they are playing to prove they are one of the best teams in the world.

“It’s a crazy journey. We talk about it sometimes, too, how fast it all went, starting from the Challenger Tour last year in April and one year later being a Grand Slam champion and now giving us a chance to [potentially] play another final after a short period of time,” Mies said. “After the French Open, we had a little down, maybe. We didn’t play our best in the grass season. But I’m really happy to find our game again and to play a great level. We don’t take it for granted. We really enjoy that moment and will go for it again on Thursday.”