Rafael Nadal Advances to Semi-Finals After Defeating Marin Cilic

Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic battled on Friday under the lights of the Aviva Centre. After two hours of fighting for points, and grinding out match after match, Nadal was facing match point in the quarterfinal match.

Nadal was set to win the match and end the third set, but his backhand missed the mark hitting the net. Cilic had dominated the start of the quarterfinal match winning the first set 2-6, but Nadal came back strong in the second set winning 6-4 and tying the match.

The two battled back and forth in the third but Nadal was slightly better, and as Cilic sent a groundstroke that went long, Nadal won the third set 6-4 and after over two hours of play, advanced to the semi-finals.

Nadal celebrated by raising his arms into the air and pumped his fist, and as the crowds cheered, He then went to the net and shook hands with Cilic and once again raised his arms in the air in celebration after a tough quarterfinal match.

Nadal, speaking about the jubilation on the court after the win said,

“Was just because have been a very important match for me. Being in semifinals is great news at the start of the hard-court season in a good way. And winning three good matches in the first Master 1000, yeah, so important for me.”

Nadal added,

“And especially the way that he played in that first set was unstoppable, no? So, I resisted. I play with the right tactic. I tried to find my solutions, but was so, so difficult. So that’s why it was an important celebration, no? It means a lot to me to be in the semifinals.”

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At the age of 32, Nadal will now face off against Karen Khachanov of Russia in the semi-finals. Nadal is favoured to win the match, and for tennis punters, getting in your bets early with one of our recommended Canadian tennis sports betting sites such as Spin Palace Sports is ideal, especially when registering can earn you up to $200 in bonuses. Also in the semis is Stefanos Tsitsipas, who will play against Kevin Anderson, who was the runner-up at Wimbledon.

The main draw this year has been Nadal, who continually brings out sold-out crowds to show support often calling out “Vamos, Rafa!” when he is on top and “C’mon, Rafa!” when struggling. For Cilic, it was clear who the crowd was cheering for, and it saw the umpire having to ask the crowd to calm down.

It didn’t seem that Nadal minded the support saying,

“You have the chance to play in front of a great crowd. Amazing support for me tonight. Can say thank you very much to all the people here in Toronto, and, yeah, the energy, the passion, I love to play this kind of matches. I’m very happy for everything. It’s been an important week for me, and things keep going.”

The beginning of the night did not seem to be going in Nadal’s favour after losing the first set. This was only the fifth time this year that the opening set resulted in a loss for Nadal, who has currently won four titles this year and is 36-3.

Cilic, ranked 7th in the world, controlled the first set and sending returns that Nadal couldn’t touch. Cilic broke Nadal’s serve to lead 2-1 and continued to win match after match until the end of the first set when Nadal finally won a second.

Nadal, in post-match interviews, stated he was struggling due to needing to use the bathroom. After a quick bathroom break, and once the second set began, Nadal was back in form, and as they say, the rest is history.