February 26, (THEWILL) – Rafael Nadal maintained his strong start to the season by defeating Daniil Medvedev in the Mexican Open semi-finals, his second triumph over the Russian, who will be the new world number one in the next ranking.
With the 6-3 6-3 victory, Nadal qualifies for the final against Cameron Norrie of the United Kingdom.
After defeating Medvedev in the Australian Open final two months ago, Nadal found a way to get his second high-profile victory over the Russian via a straight sets victory rather than the nail-biting rollercoaster that was the Australian Open final.
As for the 26-year-old Norrie, he advanced to the final game in Acapulco after defeating another top seed, the Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas, in straight sets 6-4 6-4 to go beyond the semi-final.
But, while Norrie has now won eight consecutive matches, capturing the Delray Beach title in the process, Nadal has a total of 14.
Both Norrie and Nadal are the number one players in their respective countries, and both will be trying to win another ATP Tour title. Over the course of his career, Norrie has only managed to get three, whereas Nadal has 90.
“I played some amazing points on those breakpoints,” said Nadal after the match. In the second set, Daniil was playing very aggressively, it was a very difficult set. I feel lucky to win that set.
“I’m really happy with the way I played, against the number one player in the world, and happy to play in the final.”
On his part, Norrie reflected on his victory, saying: “I was able to dictate play to his backhand and defend my forehand quite well. I definitely felt that better in the second set, and I think my game is pretty good in these conditions.”
On Sunday, they will meet for the final of the Mexico Open with Norrie hoping to add to his growing two reputation as a future great and Nadal trying to underline his resurgence.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
