“I lost to a better player today,” said Djokovic, who had won 22 sets in a row until the 49-minute opener against Nadal. Nadal saved those set points and broke there, then ran away with the closing tiebreaker, seizing a 6-1 edge and and never losing focus after his first three match points went awry. Nadal’s 3-0 lead in the second set did him no good Djokovic ended up taking it and would say later, “I thought, ‘OK, I’m back in the game.’”īut Djokovic’s 3-0 lead in the fourth did him no good, even though he served for it at 5-3, even standing one point from forcing a fifth twice. Nary a game, a point, a stroke or, indeed, a step came with a hint of insouciance. It’ll be difficult for any match the rest of the way to live up to this one. “See you, by the way, in two days,” Nadal said. When the subject of Nadal’s future was brought up during his on-court interview, he smiled. Nadal turns 36 on Friday, when he will face third-seeded Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. The only missing ingredient: There was no trophy handed to the winner.
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