Daniil Medvedev may be on top of the world, but Rafael Nadal remains the dominant force this season. Four weeks after he prevailed over Medvedev in the Australian Open final to claim a historic 21st grand slam, the resurgent Spaniard staged an exhilarating encore at the Mexican Open, a 6-3, 6-3 victory over the new world No 1 extending his unbeaten run to 14 matches and carrying him into a third successive final.
While the occasion inevitably lacked the seismic magnitude of Nadal’s win in Melbourne, it was not without significance for either player. For Medvedev, who arrived in Acapulco assuming he would need to do “something special” to claim the top ranking from Novak Djokovic – only to have it handed to him by the Serb’s shock defeat to Jiri Vesely in Dubai – victory would have reinforced his status as the new alpha male of the tour.
Nadal’s success in denying the Russian that validation, meanwhile, offered further evidence of the respite he has found from the foot problem that threatened to end his career. The determined manner in which the Spaniard went about his work, commanding the early stages of the contest before saving 11 break points in the second set with a brilliant display of belligerence, augurs well for the months ahead. It is extraordinary to think that last September, when Medvedev triumphed over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final, Nadal was on crutches. Barely five months later, he has made the best start to a season of his storied career.
“As you know, I have better days and worse days. For me the most important thing, whether it hurts or not, is that I can play without limitations, and that’s what I couldn’t do last year – and I feared,” said the fourth-seeded Nadal, who will face Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the final.
“I feel liberated, and in games that I’ve played the foot hasn’t been a problem. I enjoy every day that the foot allows me to play freely.”
Nadal certainly played freely here, securing an early break in both sets as he asserted his authority from the back of the court, forcing Medvedev to vary his approach with drop shots and repeated forays to the net, much as he had in the latter stages of his defeat at Melbourne Park. Drawn out of his natural baseline rhythm and struggling to make an impression on his second serve, behind which he won an uncharacteristically meagre six out of 24 points, the Russian would finish the match with 26 unforced errors.
“I don’t think I played great today, generally my level was not good enough to compete against a player like Nadal,” said Medvedev, 26. “Too many mistakes, and the score says it.”
What the scoreline does not say, however, is that Medvedev refused to go quietly – or quickly. For all the Russian’s travails, the contest spanned two hours in energy-sapping humidity and, but for Nadal’s extraordinary second-set obduracy, it might have rolled on considerably longer.
Having won the opener without facing a single break point, Nadal was forced to save four in the fourth game of the second, conjuring a blistering forehand winner, an ace, a winning volley and a vicious wrong-footing forehand to keep his nose in front. More challenges were to follow in his next service game, as Medvedev combined some fine play off the ground with a series of artfully executed drop shots to fashion a further seven break points. Again, Nadal was equal to the task, volleying courageously and finding some exquisite touch shots of his own to survive a game that lasted almost 20 minutes.
“I played some amazing points on the break points,” said Nadal, 35, who has now won five of his six meetings with Medvedev.
“The second set was very emotional. Daniil was playing very aggressive – drop shots, winners. It was a very difficult set. I feel lucky to win that set because he had a lot of chances.”
Norrie, seeded sixth, defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 to reach his second successive final following his success at the Delray Beach Open last week.
“I wasn’t really feeling well in the start of the match. I had some nerves, but my serve really kept me in there,” said Norrie, who has lost all three of his previous meetings with Nadal in straight sets. “I was able to dictate play and get into his backhand while defending my forehand.”
Nadal said he anticipated a tough match against Norrie, the world No 12, who is on an eight-match winning streak.
“His level of tennis is huge,” said Nadal, a three-time champion in Acapulco. “He improved a lot at the beginning of last year, and this year he continues. It’s going to be a big challenge, but we are in the final of a 500 here in Acapulco, so you can’t expect an easy opponent.”