First Italian in 42 years: Berrettini in the US Open semifinals

As with his round of 2.47 victory over Alexander Zverev (Germany), Diego Schwartzman also proved to be a stubborn opponent against Nadal, but after 18 hours the 6-time Grand Slam champion from Spain won 4:7, 5:6, 2: XNUMX and remained unbeaten in the eighth duel with the Argentine. “It was three sets, but a big challenge. When Diego has self-confidence, he is very difficult to stop,” said Nadal: “I am super happy to have mastered this challenge.”

Lost to Nadal in three sets: Diego Schwartzmann. © AP / Adam Hunger

Nadal, Djokovic and Federer had won the previous eleven Grand Slam titles among themselves. Defending champion and world number one Djokovic gave up in the round of 16 in New York due to injury. Federer lost a round later to the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who will meet Daniil Medvedev from Russia, fifth in the world rankings, in the semifinals.

After Nadal's quick 4-0 lead, Schwartzman came back strongly with two rebreaks, but when the score was 4-4 he missed two chances to take Nadal's serve for a third time. Instead, Nadal broke again and took the set. In the second round, the acerbic Schwartzman fought back from a 1-5 deficit and won four games in a row before Nadal turned up the heat again and broke the Argentine's resistance. Berrettini for the first time in a Grand Slam semi-final On the way to his fourth title in Flushing Meadows, French Open winner Nadal will now face Roman Matteo Berrettini, who was the first Italian to reach the semi-finals in New York in 42 years. The 23-year-old defeated Frenchman Gael Monfils 3:6, 6:3, 6:2, 3:6, 7:6 (7:5) in a highly exciting match over just under four hours and is among them for the first time best four players in a major. Matteo Berrettini's next opponent: Rafael Nadal. © AP / Adam Hunger

When the score was 5:3 in the fifth set, Berrettini had already given away a match point with a double fault and made the game exciting again. At 6:5 he missed two more chances to win, and then used his fifth match point in the tiebreak after 3:57 hours. Monfils' undoing included 17 double faults.

“I don’t remember any points, just the match point,” said the visibly exhausted Berrettini, who is the youngest player to reach the semi-finals of the US Open since Novak Djokovic in 2010, and added with a laugh: “I also remember the double fault to be honest. I think it was one of the best matches I've ever seen. I’m really happy and proud.”

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First Italian in 42 years: Berrettini in the US Open semifinals

Undeterred by the early elimination of his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, title favorite Rafael Nadal has reached the semi-finals at the US Open. There he meets the surprise man Matteo Berrettini, who is in a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time.

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