Rafael Nadal reaches his 12th semifinal in Barcelona after defeating Jan-Lennard Struff winning a very tricky match 7-5 7-5.
The King of Clay started extremely well the match after breaking his opponent in the 4th game (3-1) before consolidating the break (4-1). However, later the world no.2 blinked in the 7th game to concede his serve (4-3). The set went to the photo finish, and it was Nadal to take advantage of a hesitant service game from Struff to break him at love and win the opener 7-5.
The second set was more “regular” with both players staying on serve until the very last game that Nadal won with an outstanding passing shot down the line. The contest ended after 1 hour and 43 minutes.
Happy I found a way. NADAL
After the match, Rafa commented
“It was a pressure match because he’s a very aggressive player, difficult to be on rhythm with him. I’m happy for the victory, happy to find a way to win that match and I hope to be ready for the semi-finals. I’m trying to be focused every single moment because one mistake, and you lose the set against this kind of player. I’m happy the way that I managed it.”
The semi vs. Thiem: H2H and stats
Nadal will face Dominic Thiem in the semifinal. The head to head is 8-3 for Nadal, 7-3 on clay. Nadal defeated Thiem in the Barcelona final 2 years ago (6-4 6-1).
According to bet365, Nadal is the favorite to win the match. See quotes and live streaming (only selected countries - USA excluded, but coming soon)
