Nadal's longest battles: "Imagine there is someone behind you with a rifle"

• Chronicle Nadal overcomes Shapovalov's reaction and stomach problems and will be in the semifinals

• Rifirrafe controversy between Shapovalov and Nadal in full match: "You are corrupt"

• Draw The quarterfinals

It could have been three straight sets.

This was suggested by the development of the match, with

convincing and

stuck, a victim of his rival and the circumstances;

he had never met him in a Grand Slam, he was reduced, self-conscious, sad.

His suit was too big for him.

There were five, with a dramatic outcome until the Spaniard recovered from heat stroke, served again as he had been doing, particularly in the first set, and saw the fear on his opponent's face and racket, frightened when he stood to a part of his second semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

If "ninety minutes at the Bernabéu are a long time", as

intimidated the Inter Milan players before a new expression at the Bernabéu of the stage fright that Real Madrid caused in the mid-1980s, five sets against Nadal there are many, knowing how the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles spends it, capable of maintaining a very high pace for a long time or, as happened against Shapovalov, of coming back when he seemed almost knocked out. "I'm not 20 anymore," he commented at the end of the game about his recovery for the semifinals, still at the

Arena, in front of

, with the public fascinated by his new survival exercise.

Australia, where he has only won once, has seen many of his great long-distance confrontations.

He was the 2009 semifinal against

, who ended up winning 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1) and 6-4, after five hours and 14 minutes.

It would be, with less than 48 hours to spare, the final with

, who would also demand five sets before shedding the famous tears of frustration in the stands.

From then, when he was 22 years old, from the space between one game and another, when he saw it almost impossible to recover physically, the words of

, his uncle and coach, date back.

"Don't say you can't.

God is not going to come down to help you, neither your mother nor your father.

You decide what you want to do.

Imagine that in the stadium there is someone sitting behind you with a rifle and he tells you that if you stop running, he will shoot you.

I assure you that you run.

So get moving!

You will know if you want to make the effort or not.

What I do tell you is that maybe you will not be as close as today to win an Australian Open, “he told him.

Nadal celebrates victory against Shapovalov.WILLIAM WESTAFP

At 35, Nadal has once precarious resources.

Against Shapovalov he offered a balance of 22 points out of 26 approaches to the net: 8 of 8 in the fourth set, despite losing it, and 3 of 3 in the fifth.

"That's why Rafa is so great, because he knows how to press at the right moments.

He was able to pull it off and that's what separates them from the rest.

Shapovalov has to understand that he has to raise the level mentally », valued

in Eurosport.

The tournament that demands the most

Nadal has a favorable background of 23-13 in the matches where he had to consume all five sets, with six wins in the last 10. Precisely, the closest to the appointment with Shapovalov lost it, a year ago, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, having won the first two sets. The Australian Open is the tournament where he has been most demanded, with a total of 14 occasions in which he needed all five sets, with eight wins and six losses. In the 2017 semi-finals he stopped the best

's push before falling to Federer.

But the rennet of the Spanish in fighting to the limit comes from afar. Already in Rome, in 2005, when he gave strong signs of what was to come, he starred in an unforgettable final against

, then called to be one of the great specialists on clay. He won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 and 7-6 (6), leaving the seal today already well contrasted.

The vitola of irreducible player, who rises to the extent of difficulties, had another severe expression in what was considered by

magazine as the best match in history.

After losing two consecutive finals to Federer at Wimbledon, on July 6, 2008, in a dispute that was about to be postponed to Monday due to lack of light, he knocked down the Swiss 6-4, 6-4, 6 -7 (5), 6-7 (8) and 9-7, to win the first of his two titles at the All England Club.

In the 2019 US Open final, he stifled

's reaction and claimed his penultimate victory in five sets.

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