TIL Desk Sports/ Second seed Rafael Nadal demolished Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets on Thursday to advance to the Australian Open final. This is the fifth time Nadal has reached the final of the first Grand Slam of the year, after his victory in 2009 and his losing appearances in 2012, 2014 and 2017.
The 20-year-old Greek player tested Nadal in the opening games of the first set as he continued with the form that saw him secure stunning victories over Switzerland’s third seed Roger Federer and Spain’s Roberto Bautista in the Round of 16 and quarterfinal respectively.
Nadal managed to break the Greek’s serve soon after that promising opening and soon imposed his will on proceedings. Tsitsipas never looked likely to add another upset to his impressive results over the past fortnight in Melbourne.
Both players had to contend with the searing heat at Melbourne Park on Thursday with temperatures rising to 39 degrees during the first half of the match. The Spaniard moves on to the final without having dropped a set in any of his previous matches at the tournament so far.
