Rafael Nadal wins a very good match against an inspired Marin Cilic in the Toronto.

The world no.1 had to recover from a disastrous start as he was 1-5 down in absolutely no time also and especially because the Croat was playing really well. However, if you want to defeat Rafa, you need to beat him millions of times in the same match and winning the 1st set is definitely no enough.

After losing the opener 6-2, Rafa pushed the reset button to grab a 4-1 lead in the second set before winning 6-4. Finally, the only difference between Rafa and Marin in the 3^rd set was just a break in the very last game. Nadal won the match 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Why Rafa was so happy

After the match, Rafa commented

“It means a lot to me to be in the semi-finals. It’s because it was a very important match for me. Being in the semi-finals is great news at the start of the hard-court season. 

“And winning three good matches in the first Masters 1000 [of the season] is so important for me. The way that he played in that first set was unstoppable. So, I resisted him. I played with the right tactics. 

I tried to find my solutions, but it was so, so difficult. The dynamic was very bad for me and unbelievably good for him. 

So I knew that the beginning of the second set would be decisive. And then at 2-1, I had that break where he missed a couple of balls, and that was the first time in the match that he made some mistakes. Maybe that was a key moment. 

And of course, that last game of the second set that he was up 40-15, and he made two mistakes.”

The semis vs. Khachanov

Rafa will face Karen Khachanov in the semifinal. The head to head is 3- for Rafa, 7-0 in terms of sets.