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sports Diasabra 29 Januari 2022

Nadal, Medvedev to meet in history-making Australian final

(AP) — Rafael Nadal is with- crowd, and then demanded
in one victory of a men’s re- that his opponent be cau-
cord 21st Grand Slam singles tioned for receiving coaching
title. from his father — in Greek
— from the stands.
He’ll have to beat second-
seedeed Daniil Medvedev in Medvedev returned after Ts-
the Australian Open final on itsipas converted his third set
Sunday to make history. And point to level the match and
Medvedev is chasing a piece he again urged the umpire to
of history of his own after give the French Open run-
beating Stefanos Tsitispas 7-6 ner-up a code violation.
(5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a heated
semifinal on Friday. The U.S. He then took a five-minute
Open champion is aiming to break, took control late in
be the first man in the Open the third set and then reeled
era to win his second Grand off the last five games after
Slam title at the next major Tsitsipas was eventually cau-
tournament. tioned for coaching.

Nadal advanced to the final Nadal’s run to a 29th Grand Last month, he wasn’t even thing else,” Nadal said in his of the so-called Big Three
in Australia for the sixth time Slam final has been compara- sure he’d be able to return to on-court interview. “I have who had a chance to break
with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win tively serene. the tour. But he won a tune- been a little unlucky (here) in the deadlock in Australia this
in a mostly lopsided contest up tournament in Melbourne my career with some injuries. time.
against seventh-seeded Mat- After the last point, he and has taken six straight I played some amazing finals
teo Berrettini in the first of stopped, beamed a wide grin matches at the first Grand with good chances.” Federer is out while recov-
the men’s semifinals. and then punched the air Slam event of the year. ering from knee surgery.
three times. He lost classic five-set fi- Djokovic, who has won nine
Medvedev had a more tem- One more and he’ll break the nals at Melbourne Park to of his Grand Slam titles at
pestuous and challenging run Nadal arrived in Australia not record of 20 major champi- Djokovic in 2012 and Feder- Melbourne Park, was deport-
to back-to-back Australian knowing how long he would onships he shares with Roger er in ’17. Nadal lost to Stan ed after an 11-day visa saga
Open finals. He had to deal last after months off the tour Federer and Novak Djokov- Wawrinka in 2014 and against on the eve of the tournament
with a hostile crowd in his dealing with a serious foot in- ic. Nadal would also become Djokovic three years ago. because he failed to meet
second-round win over Nick jury and then a bout of COV- just the fourth man to win all Australia’s strict COVID-19
Kyrgios, had to save a match ID-19. He skipped Wimble- four Grand Slam titles at least “I feel very lucky that I vaccination requirements.
point and rally from two sets don after losing in the French twice. won once,” he said. “I nev-
down to beat Felix Auger-Ali- Open semifinals to Novak er thought about another “To be able to be where I am
assime in a nearly five-hour Djokovic, and didn’t play at Nadal’s win over Wimbledon chance in 2022.” today, I really can’t explain
quarterfinal win. Then he all after August. runner-up Berrettini, under in words how important is
had to regain his composure a closed roof at Rod Laver Nadal broke Berrettini’s for me in terms of energy, in
after an angry outburst in the “Every day has been an is- Arena, because of heavy rain, opening service games in the terms of personal satisfaction,
second set of the semifinals. sue in terms of problems on was his 500th on hard courts first two sets and, after drop- in terms of being very thank-
the foot. Doubts still here ... at tour level. ping the third set on a rare ful,” Nadal said. “For me it’s
The Russian yelled at chair probably for the rest of my service lapse, he rallied to something completely unex-
umpire Jaume Campistol in career,” Nadal said. “But for But he’s only won the Aus- finish off the match in just pected.”
the changever after serving me it’s amazing ... (to) just tralian Open once, in 2009, under three hours. That in it-
a double-fault to concede a compete and play tennis at and adding a second was his self was a relief after his long He said he was taking a dif-
late break, getting a code vio- the high level again, facing primary focus. quarterfinal win over Denis ferent approach to life now,
lation for a visible obscenity the most important players of Shapovalov. but not at game time.
when he made a gesture with the world.” “For me, it’s all about the Aus-
his arm to the pro-Tsitsipas tralian Open more than any- Nadal was the only member

Robinson goal lifts US over El Salvador 1-0 in Cup qualifier

(AP) — Antonee Robin- bing his hamstring and then five qualifiers left, one point
son somersaulted a strug- And when he broke through “We’re definitely one step feigned a stiff-legged walk. behind Canada. Mexico has
gling United States into a the freeze in the air and the closer,” Robinson said after 17, followed by Panama (14),
strong position in World offense, he celebrated with his 52nd-minute goal lifted “He kind of scared me be- Costa Rica (12), Jamaica
Cup qualifying, just like not a single handstand but a the U.S. over El Salvador 1-0 cause I thought he pulled his (seven), El Salvador (six) and
he did in September. double. on Thursday night to keep hammy,” Tim Weah said. Honduras (three). The top
the Americans on track for a three nations qualify from
World Cup return. “It wasn’t No worries. Robinson was North and Central America
the prettiest game.” mimicking a Kenyan player and the Caribbean, and the
he saw while playing for fourth-place team advances
But his goal celebration on a Everton’s youth team as a to a playoff against the Ocea-
29-degree night was a show- teenager in Africa. nia champion, likely New
piece worthy of a gymnast: a Zealand.
forward flip into a backward “My friend’s been on me for
spring. weeks to do that celebration, The U.S. is at Canada on
so I had to pull it out,” Rob- Sunday and hosts Honduras
“It’s just one of those mus- inson said. “Didn’t tell any- on Wednesday at St. Paul,
cle-memory things. I’ve been one, so there were a few peo- Minnesota. Qualifying ends
doing it since I was a kid,” he ple scared. It’s all part of the in March with trips to Mex-
said. fun of enjoying the game.” ico and Costa Rica around a
matchup with Panama in Or-
Robinson followed by grab- The U.S. has 18 points with lando, Florida.