From the first moment on it was a very intense fight between Nadal and Wawrinka. Epic rallies, brilliant footwork and massive winners we could enjoy during the first set. In the end it was Rafa that took the first set.

In the second set Stan showed his mental toughness and never gave up in a really tight set. He was able to win it after a deciding break in the end. Meanwhile Rafa struggled again with a knee injury which seems to stop him from playing with his normal intensity. It seems like he was giving up all of his hopes to win the encounter.

In third set Rafa was not on Court with his focus. It seemed that he was fighting again with his body more than with Stan. Besides that Stan showed no mercy and was hitting blistering winners against Rafa. He took the third set with the score of 6:2.

In the fourth set it was Stan that took the better start all over again. But somehow Nadal fought back with his incredible lionheart and was able to play competitive again. He broke Stan a couple of times facing two matchpoints and was up with 6:5 while dominating with his forehand. But somehow Stan managed to come into the breaker. With a lot of luck and some outbursting points he came through the breaker with 7:5.

Clearly it was the best match in the lost couple of month. Stan is moving forward to his 3 Grand Slam Final. Twice he lost against the great Roger Federer. But the form of Roger is unkown. Because he haven’t played alot through lockdown and it seems like now it’s the time for Stan to step out from the Shadow of his Swiss friend.

Tomorrow 12 o’clock it’s crunchtime. See you there.