Rafael Nadal was business-like and at times ruthless in his victory over Frances Tiafoe on Tuesday night at the Australian Open. The 2009 champion ended the run of the #NextGenATP American 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 47 minutes for a place in his 30th Grand Slam championship semi-final.

The second-seeded Spanish superstar, who is bidding to capture his 18th major crown in his first tournament since September 2018 at the US Open, won 84 per cent of his first service points and struck 29 winners past Tiafoe, who committed 34 unforced errors.

Nadal will next challenge No. 14 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece for the third time. He leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0, with final wins in 2018 on the clay of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and on the hard courts of the Rogers Cup.

Nadal won 14 of the first 17 points — including the first service break in the second game — in an electric start by keeping his groundstroke length consistently deep to push Tiafoe around the court and behind the baseline. At 0-3, Tiafoe slowed down his serve to settle his nerves, and began to work his way into the match, but Nadal went 15 for 15 on first serve and finished the opener with consecutive forehand winners.

From 5-3 up in the first set, Nadal won 12 of the next 13 points to maintain control against Tiafoe, who missed out on two break point chances — due to forehand errors — when his Spanish opponent served at 2-1 in the second set. Tiafoe found his service rhytmn, but at times he rushed and hit closer to the lines. Nadal was simply ruthless in striking anything short for a winner, yet Tiafoe resisted the pressure to save three set points when serving at 3-5. Nadal closed out to love in the next game, finishing with a smash winner from the baseline.

Tiafoe, with a 1-5 record in fifth sets, lost his first service game for the third time to immediately be placed on the back foot in the third set. Three groundstroke errors handed Nadal another break for a 5-2 advantage, before the World No. 2 closed out to 15 with Tiafoe hitting a backhand wide.

Only Roger Federer (43), Novak Djokovic (34), who plays Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, and Jimmy Connors (31) have reached more major semi-finals than Nadal in the Open Era (since April 1968).

Tiafoe had been bidding to become the youngest American man to reach the semi-finals at the Australian Open since Andy Roddick (20 years, 149 days) in 2003.

It didn’t have the flair or style of his victory against Roger Federer, but Stefanos Tsitsipas’ win against Roberto Bautista Agut showed an entirely different – and maybe more impressive – side of the 20-year-old Greek. Where he wowed the Federer crowd with shake-your-head winners, against Bautista Agut, Tsitsipas showed the hustle and grit it might take for him to win his maiden Grand Slam title this fortnight.

The reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion reached his first Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday, ending the ironman run of Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) under the baking Melbourne sun.

The Greek was slow to start his first quarter-final and fell behind a break in the first three sets, including a 2-4 deficit in the third. But he returned to his net-charging play that helped him knock out Federer and woke up his cadre of Greek fans, who had been quiet for much of the quarter-final, before controlling the fourth-set tie-break with more aggressive play.

Tsitsipas becomes the youngest man (20 years 168 days) to reach the Australian Open semi-finals since Andy Roddick (20 years 149 days) in 2003 and the youngest man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since Novak Djokovic (20 years, 110 days) at the 2007 US Open.

Tsitsipas, who had reached only one fourth round at a Slam before this fortnight, set three main goals to start the year: Crack the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings, make the Nitto ATP Finals in November, and reach a Grand Slam semi-final. Three full weeks into the season, and he’s a third of the way there. He will face either 17-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal or #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe, who’s playing in his first major quarter-final.

“I’m just living the dream, living what I’ve been working hard for. I mean, I feel a bit emotional but not too much because I know, again, I really worked hard to get here, the semis of a Grand Slam,” Tsitsipas said.

The Greek had to endure a nervy start inside Rod Laver Arena, dumping an overhead into the net to lose his opening service game. Bautista Agut somehow looked the fresher, despite having played three five-set matches out of four to make his first quarter-final.

The 30-year-old was moving Tsitsipas from tramline to tramline and landing passing shots at the 20-year-old’s ankles when the Greek sprinted forward. But Tsitsipas began to probe Bautista Agut’s legs, hitting behind the Spaniard again and again, and he broke in the 12^th game to take the opener.

Another slow start in the second, however, doomed Tsitsipas’ chances, as Bautista Agut never let up and Greece’s #NextGenATP star lacked the precision that helped him knock off his idol on the same court two days earlier.

A five-set match became a three-set match, and Tsitsipas honed in his focus, pounding Bautista Agut’s backhand, making the Spaniard, who was finally showing the effects of his marathon run, stretch with both hands and stay home. Two, three, four consecutive topspin-heavy shots to the backhand, and Tsitsipas would then step in to rip a forehand down the line or race forward for a putaway.

The fourth set was a serving contest until the tie-break, when Tsitsipas, the fresher of the two, had just enough left to take the tie-break and book a spot in the final four.

He might land that Top 10 ATP Ranking he’s chasing this fortnight as well. Tsitsipas is projected to climb to No. 12 and, if he makes the final, he’s projected to enter the Top 10.

“You’re working as hard as ever, but now, ‘hard as ever’ isn’t enough.”

Coach Pepe Vendrell had those words to say to Roberto Bautista Agut following the Doha champion’s 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win over sixth seed Marin Cilic in the fourth round of the Australian Open. The victory over last year’s runner-up marked a breakthrough for Bautista Agut: In his 10th fourth-round appearance at a Grand Slam, the 30-year-old finally reached his first quarter-final.

Back to work on Court 16 at Melbourne Park to prepare for his inaugural quarter-final match, coach and player are devising a plan to build on what’s already been the ideal start to 2019. The 22nd seed Bautista Agut is tied with #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur for most tour-level wins this year (9), and he claimed his ninth ATP Tour title by lifting the Qatar ExxonMobil Open trophy to begin the campaign.

So what’s the secret to his boost in form?

“The maximum effort has always been there,” Vendrell said. “But I think we’re maturing as a team, in terms of processing information and understanding what’s happened and why it happened, as opposed to focusing on just whether Roberto won or lost. I’m analysing things from a different perspective now. We won a tournament, but how did we go about doing that? We’re into the quarter-finals [at the Australian Open], but what did we do differently to achieve this?”

Bautista Agut agrees.

“These days, I’m able to single out the small differences I made during my matches. I can look back and see a subtle change in the way I handled a certain moment and how it differs to ways I reacted to those types of situations in the past,” Bautista Agut said. “I’m more level-headed as well. I focus more on myself and less on my opponents. In that regard, I feel more confident when I step on the court.”

Already this year, Bautista Agut has wins over Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Stan Wawrinka and Cilic, the latest coming after three hours and 58 minutes in Melbourne on Sunday. The victory means the Spaniard has met a goal he set for himself in the preseason: to break through that fourth-round barrier at a Grand Slam.

“One of my goals before the start of 2019 was to reach the quarter-finals of a major,” Bautista Agut said. “Marin made that very difficult, but I think I played at a very high level against a top-level player. I’ve been in-form here and I feel especially good playing on these courts and under the current conditions.”

After 14 hours and 18 sets in four matches, Bautista Agut has been dubbed “Marathon Man” and for good reason: Before defeating Cilic, the Spaniard also needed five sets to overcome Andy Murray (6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-2) and John Millman (6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7(6), 6-4) in the opening two rounds in Melbourne, before defeating 10th seed Karen Khachanov in straight sets. Despite all that time on court, the World No. 24 feels he isn’t any worse for the wear and he is eager for more success.

“I was forced to battle my way past Cilic, but I’ve been fighting throughout the tournament,” Bautista Agut said. “But I’m not tired. I’m holding up well physically and I’m used to recovering quickly after these types of matches.”

The excellent level of play and bounds of confidence are there, and the results have been stellar so far. After working hard with his charge throughout the pre-season, Vendrell isn’t surprised with Bautista Agut’s recent surge.

“He’s talented, committed and a hard worker, and he’s working especially hard every day to raise his game,” Vendrell said. “So it doesn’t surprise me when I see Roberto earning victories like these, and I say that with humility and all due respect for his opponents. But it’s no coincidence Roberto is stringing together wins like he has been. We’ve stressed recently the importance of focusing on what we have to do in critical situations and not on what the opponent might do. We can’t control that, but we can control how to handle those big moments.”

Fast starts to the year are nothing new to Bautista Agut. He kicked off 2016 by lifting the trophy in Auckland. In 2017, he captured the title in Chennai. In 2018 he again conquered Auckland and this year he emerged victorious in Doha. But this season is proving more special than years past, for both player and coach.

“With all the victories I’ve had so far, I consider this to be the best January of my career,” Bautista Agut said.

“It’s not by accident when you accomplish something like that four years in a row,” Vendrell added. “It suggests that this time of the year suits us. I’m in tune with Roberto and I’m aware these types of conditions suit his style of play. We’re starting the season well-rested but also having laid the groundwork by planning and preparing in practice. I think we found the ideal approach to start a season.”

With nothing to prove and even less to lose, Bautista Agut will step on Rod Laver Arena for the first time in this year’s Australian Open campaign with another tough task to handle. He’ll face reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who upset six-time titlist Roger Federer in the previous round.

“Tsitsipas is a great player. He’s playing a top level,” Bautista Agut said of the 20-year-old from Greece. “He’s one of the top players in the world. He will be one of the best, for sure. He’s playing at a very high level.”

The same can be said of Bautista Agut.