MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Rafael Nadal kept telling anyone who would listen that his fitness levels wouldn’t stand up to the rigors of a two-week Grand Slam tennis tournament. Tomas Berdych proved him right.
Nadal, who had played only eight matches since last June coming into the Australian Open because of a right wrist injury and appendix surgery in early November, was knocked out in the quarter-finals 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (5) on Tuesday by Berdych – who had lost 17 straight matches to the Spaniard.
“It is obvious that I needed something more to be more competitive,” Nadal, a 14-time major winner, said. “As I said when I arrived here, the process always is not easy. When you have injuries, comebacks are difficult. But without being at my top level of tennis, I was able to be here in quarter-finals. Is not a bad result at all for me.”
Berdych, while thankful for the win, was reminded of a quote from the late Vitas Gerulaitis after beating Jimmy Connors for the first time in 16 matches: “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.”
So no one, not even Nadal, could beat Berdych 18 times in a row?
“I’ve heard that one already,”” Berdych said, smiling.
The other men’s semi-finalists will be determined on Wednesday when top-seeded Novak Djokovic plays Milos Raonic and defending champion Stan Wawrinka takes on U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori.
Berdych will play sixth-seeded Andy Murray in the semis after the British player beat local hope Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Kyrgios came back from two sets down and saved a match point in the fourth round Sunday before beating Italian Andreas Seppi, the player who eliminated Roger Federer in the third round, but there was no such comeback on Tuesday.
On the women’s side, Maria Sharapova moved closer to another Australian Open title, defeating 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-2.The Russian made all the big points look easy and advanced to play Ekaterina Makarova, who earlier beat third-seeded Simona Halep 6-4, 6-0.
The other women’s semi-finalists will be determined on Wednesday when No. 1-ranked Serena Williams plays last year’s finalist, Dominika Cibulkova, and Venus Williams, playing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final in nearly five years, takes on 19-year-old American Madison Keys.
If the Williams sisters play each other in the semi-finals, it would be their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament since the Wimbledon final in 2009 — won by Serena.