Nadal Remains Undefeated In Acapulco
Nadal Remains Undefeated In Acapulco
Cilic advances into semi-finals on Thursday
Rafael Nadal continued his winning streak at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Thursday, overcoming the determined qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6(2), 6-3 to reach the semi-finals in Acapulco.
The second seed improves to 13-0 at this tournament and has won all 26 sets he’s played. Nadal’s previous Acapulco titles in 2005 and 2013 came on red clay. He’s seeking his first hard-court title since prevailing at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in January 2014.
Standing between Nadal and a spot in Saturday’s final is third seed Marin Cilic, who advanced to the final four without hitting a ball due to the withdrawal of Steve Johnson. The American suffered a sprained ankle during his second-round victory on Wednesday against wild card and #NextGenATP player Ernesto Escobedo. Nadal leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Cilic 3-1 and has won their past three matches.
The 21-year-old Nishioka, competing in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of 2017, showed no sign of nerves in one of the biggest matches of his career. He repeatedly tracked down shots that would be winners for Nadal against most players and goaded the Spaniard into numerous errors on his forehand wing. Nishioka twice held serve to stay in the opening set and force a tie-break. But Nadal’s forehand, which often betrayed him throughout the first set, came alive when it mattered most. He raced to a 5/0 lead and cracked a forehand winner on his first set point to grab the early advantage.
Nishioka refused to go away quietly and immediately scored an early break to go up 2-0 in the second set. But as Nadal continued to find the range on his shots, the intensity of the grueling baseline rallies appeared to finally take their toll on the Japanese player. The second seed went on a four-game run to lead 4-2 in the second set, which included several timely volleys. Nadal went 12/12 on net approaches during the match, fittingly hitting an overhead smash on match point to wrap up the contest in one hour and 57 minutes.
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