World number one Rafael Nadal won his 68th match of the season but had to work hard for it in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters 2013.The Spaniard advanced after a 7-6, 6-1 win over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in a match that lasted an hour and 47 minutes.
It seemed like Nadal was headed to secure the first set during tiebreak but Wawrinka went on to save three break points to take a 6-5 lead before Nadal saved two set points himself to force a tiebreaker. The tiebreak lasted 23 minutes with Nadal sealing it 12-10.
“[It was] very tough. I think I played a great set. But the court is fast. His serve was huge. He came to the court with that determination to hit every ball by taking the ball earlier, hit the ball very quick [and] go for the big shots in every moment. So [it] was very difficult to stop him,” Nadal said.
“[The] positive thing [was that] when he was playing well, I was playing well too. I was able to resist. If I was not playing well, I [was] going to lose that set. After that, I was able to maintain the level,” he added.
The Spaniard went on to sweep the second set, rushing to a 5-0 lead before Wawrinka held serve.
The loss means that Wawrinka is now 0-14 in head to head matches against Nadal.
Despite crashing out in the quarterfinals, Wawrinka has made a strong case of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals. He’s currently in seventh place in the ATP Race to London Standings. There are five spots remaining to be filled for the year-end event.
Nadal will play Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in the semifinals. Del Potro is now just a win away from qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals. Nadal leads their head to head series at 8-3.
“I cannot expect a similar match to Indian Wells,” said Nadal, referring to their previous meeting earlier this year. “Even the match was very hard there. The only way to play against him and be successful is [to] play my best tennis [and] play aggressively on this surface.”
Nadal’s best finish in Shanghai was a runner-up finish in 2009 (lost to Nikolay Davydenko). The Spaniard is aiming to become the first player in history to win six ATP Masters 1000 titles in a single season.
