With other big stars like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic knocked out, Nadal's path to a fourth US Open title looks fairly open. And the Spanish have no doubt in their game.

In the semi-final against Schwartzman, the Spaniard started by winning four straight games and tied an early grip on the match. Maybe he got a little too comfortable and dropped four straight and released the Argentine to 4-4 and was about to lose the next game as well.

"A little irritation and nervousness"

However, Nadal tightened, won the game and later also the set.

The second set looked the same. 5-1 was 5-5. Nadal again managed to be the best in terms of and also won second and then the match after a clearer victory in the third, 6-2.

- It was a big challenge for me today, especially after the first set where I lost 4-0. There was probably some irritation and some nervousness, says the experienced 33-year-old after the match.

Meets Italian covert

In the semi-finals, he meets the Italian, Matteo Berrettini, ranked 25th in the world, as his quarterfinal after a real shocker against Gael Monfis. The players switched during the course of the match but once it was settled, nobody wanted to give up. The nearly four-hour match had to be decided in a tiebreak.

A big surprise for many, but Nadal has a look at what he has to wait.

- I saw him play. He is a great player with a very good serve and a lot of confidence in his game.