‘Rafael Nadal was my rival, and I wanted to show myself,’ says Stefanos Tsitsipas

Rafael Nadal reached his 25th Major final at the 2019 Australian Open. Rafa scored a dominant 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 semi-final victory over the young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas at Rod Laver Arena in an hour and 46 minutes. Tsitsipas played well and set his eyes on his first Major final at 20. However, he could only do a little against the more experienced rival, playing impatience tennis and doing well only in set number two. Nadal dominated serve and return and kept the young gun under constant pressure. With his new serve working like a charm, the Spaniard lost 12 points behind the initial shot in the entire match! He faced one break point while serving for the win at 5-0 in the third set and never lost his focus in another emphatic triumph. On the other hand, Rafa won 43% of the return points. He tamed Stefanos’ serve and converted 11 break points into six breaks of serve, more than enough to control the scoreboard.

Stefanos Tsitsipas fell to Rafael Nadal at the 2019 Australian Open.

Nadal finished the match with 28 winners and 14 unforced errors. He did everything right and kept Stefanos on a 17-22 ratio, which was not enough for a more favorable result. Unlike against Roger Federer in the fourth round, Tsitsipas was just a shadow on the court for most of the encounter. He found no space to place his strokes or solved the way to steal momentum away from Rafa and impose the shots that had driven him toward the semi-final. Nadal lost just three points on serve in the opening set. The Spaniard scored two breaks in games three and seven to bring it home safely and send a clear message to his rival. Stefanos raised his level a little bit in set number two. The Greek fended off three break points in the fifth game before Rafa broke him at 4-4. Nadal sealed the deal with a service winner in game ten, dropping four points in five service games for two sets to love lead after swift 75 minutes. Stefanos was done and dusted after losing 12 of 15 points on serve in set number three. The youngster gave serve away three times to push Rafa into the final against Novak Djokovic. 

“There were two moments where I found myself in the same situation against the same opponent. However, it was a different Stefanos. The first match came against Rafa Nadal in the 2019 Australian Open semi-final. I was impatient, thinking I had to prove myself and come up with big shots against the legend. Of course, I made too many mistakes and lost in straight sets,” Stefanos Tsitsipas said.