TORONTO — Rafael Nadal hammered an overhead smash — a punctuation point on what he’d just accomplished, really — and then he threw his arms in the air.
The World No. 1 is going the distance, all the way to the final at the Rogers Cup, an achievement met with a loud display of fireworks in the early hours on Sunday morning at Aviva Centre, where a lot of fans stayed up past their bed time to see the Spaniard punch the ticket.
“Great news,” Nadal said, wearing a white jacket and a smile after a straight-sets, 7-6, 6-4 semifinal victory over Russian Karen Khachanov, a match that began just after 10 p.m. ET, thanks to rain. “Tomorrow is an important match. But, anyway, I think I am happy tomorrow, that I am satisfied with the week, no?
“Arriving here for me, it was difficult to imagine that I going to be in the final one week-and-a-half after, no?”
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Nadal hadn’t played on the hard court since January, and the fact he couldn’t imagine himself in the final makes even more sense given what’s happened to the other big names in this tournament. He’s the only one left.
Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic has been home for days. Defending Rogers Cup champion Alexander Zverev was sent packing in the quarter-final. Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson was dusted in the semifinal earlier Saturday.
This final could’ve featured two guys casual tennis fans had never even heard of.
But Nadal is, thankfully, still standing, up against a young Greek star named Stefanos Tsitsipas who’s never won an ATP title. Nadal, meanwhile, is one win away from his fifth title of the season, his fourth Rogers Cup crown, and his whopping 80th title overall.
Think about that last number for a second: 80 wins on the ATP circuit. Just three men in the Open Era have accomplished that feat, and Nadal is in line to be the fourth. And he could do it right here in Toronto.
“If that happens, it will be fantastic,” Nadal said. “Canada is a tournament that I — Canada, Montreal, Toronto — it’s a tournament that I play well a lot of times in my career. And it’s a very important result for me to be back here where I am.”
It wasn’t easy to get here — like all but one of his matches at this tournament, Saturday night was a fight. While Nadal broke Khachanov on the Russian’s first service game to take a 2-0 lead, he got broken right back.
“He’s a great server,” Nadal said of the 22-year-old. “Big shot from the baseline. He has especially great backhand and he can hit the forehand very strong too … He plays very aggressive and he hit the ball very strong, no?
“I need to resist and play aggressive. When I was able to move him, I think I was a little bit more on the control. But it’s difficult to make that happen because he hit the ball very strong.”
When the opening set went to a tie-break, Nadal won, because of course he did. The man is legendary at grinding out points when he needs them most.
“I needed to don’t have mistakes on the tie-break to take it, and I think I did well,” he said. “I played a solid tie-break.”
Khachanov did his part, too — after he sent a forehand long, giving Nadal the 5-2 lead, he fired a ball straight up in the air in frustration. To end the set, Nadal labelled a forehand down the line, and after Khachanov’s return went long, the Spaniard dropped into a huge fist pump and yelled what fans had been yelling at him all night, though with more fire: “Vamos!”
Nadal earned an early break in the second set to go up 2-1, and despite Khachnov’s big serve and powerful groundstrokes, the writing was on the wall.
On Sunday afternoon, it’ll be Nadal the veteran against the Greek youngster. Nadal has been in Tsitsipas’ shoes at this tournament: Back in 2005, he was the kid playing against the veteran, Andre Agassi.
“It feels better when you are younger, but no complaints,” Nadal said. “Since 2005, I never imagine that I am going to have this kind of career that I am having.
“Yeah, tomorrow it’s the opposite thing. Hopefully the final result will not be the same than in 2005, in terms of the younger wins. But anyway, is good to be in his position. But at the same time, it’s good to be in my position, no?”
Yes. And to earn a fourth Rogers Cup crown, Nadal will have to spoil Tsitsipas’ birthday — the Greek kid turns the page on his teen years on championship Sunday, his 20th birthday.
The pair have met just once before, earlier this year in Barcelona on clay, and Nadal won 6-2, 6-1. But it’s Tsitsipas who sent home Djokovic and Zverev and Anderson, who has just one more giant left to slay — and his first as a 20-something.
And so, it sets up quite the finale: Tsitsipas has never won an ATP title, while Nadal will be playing in his 116th career final on the ATP World Tour.
You have to like Nadal’s chances: He’s been a perfect 4-0 on Sundays so far this season, and he’s lost just three times in 42 matches.
He also says he feels no pressure. The final is gravy, considering the week he’s had.
“Everything is to win,” Nadal said with a shrug. “So that’s it. Is a day to play aggressive, to play with the right determination, and try to win.”
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