Brisbane: Rafael Nadal's Australian Open preparations suffered a blow when the Spaniard suffered a shock defeat by Jordan Thompson in the Brisbane International quarterfinals on Friday. Local favourite Thompson saved three match points before prevailing 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-3 against Nadal, who was playing his first tournament after nearly a year out with a hip injury.
Having won the opener and leading 6-4 in the second-set tie-break, Nadal was on the verge of victory before Thompson staged a remarkable comeback and went on to win in nearly three-and-half hours. Thompson broke 37-year-old Nadal in the fourth game of the final set and was 4-1 up when the Spaniard left the court on a medical timeout.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, did return but could not stop Thompson, who faces Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals."To beat Rafa in Brisbane in quarterfinals, I think this is my first semifinals on a hard court as well," Thompson said. "I could not be happier."Second seed Dimitrov beat Rinky Hijikata 6-1, 6-4.Coco Gauff swept aside Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-1 to reach the Auckland Classic semifinals as the US Open champion continued her impressive buildup to the first Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park.
Rain delayed the start of the match but Gauff needed only 53 minutes to see off her French rival. The 19-year-old has not dropped a set in her title defence and did not face a single break point on Friday."I was focusing on playing my game," Gauff said. "I thought I served really well, probably the best so far in the tournament, which is something I've been working on off-season. I'm really happy with how I played." Second seed Elina Svitolina swept aside Marie Bouzkova 6-0, 6-3 in another quarterfinal.
In the WTA event in Brisbane, world number two Aryna Sabalenka overcame Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-4 to set up a semifinal with Victoria Azarenka.
Sabalenka stormed through the first set but faced a stiffer challenge in the second as Kasatkina raised her game. Defending Australia Open champion Sabalenka fired 29 winners, compared to seven by her opponent, to snuff out Kasatkina's hopes of a comeback.
"It's hard there because you get to know each other better and better every time you play," Sabalenka, who now has a 6-2 head-to-head lead against Kasatkina, said of their rivalry. She will meet Azarenka, who outlasted Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 3-6 7-5 for a place in the last four. Elena Rybakina reached the last four after her opponent Anastasia Potapova retired through injury after losing the first set 6-1. She will meet Linda Noskova, who beat Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-3.
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