Rafa Nadal beat Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland to reach the final of the Melbourne Summer Set 1 in his first competitive tournament since August; Canada into ATP Cup final as Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime win decisive doubles rubber against Russia
Saturday 8 January 2022 14:37, UK
Australian world No 1 Ash Barty breezed past holder Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-4 in their Adelaide International semi-final on Saturday to set up a showdown with Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina.
Barty, who won the tournament in 2020, was dominant from start to finish, winning 76% of her first serve points.
The 25-year-old took a 3-2 lead after getting the first break of the opening set and followed up with another break and a couple of love holds to take the first set.
The Australian carried her winning momentum into the second set, breaking early to take a 2-1 lead, and then successfully defending a break point to hold serve at 4-2.
Despite her best efforts, Poland's fifth-seeded Swiatek could do little to stem Barty's tide, eventually surrendering the match in one hour 27 minutes.
"This is unreal honestly. It's so much fun playing out here tonight and Iga is an exceptional champion, she made me play my best tennis. There was not a lot in it," Barty said.
"Each match this tournament, I feel like I've got progressively better. Hopefully there's a little more left in the tank for tomorrow."
Earlier on Saturday, seventh seed Rybakina put in a solid performance to beat Japan's Misaki Doi 6-4 6-3.
Rybakina went down a break in the second game of the first set, but immediately broke back. She then sent down five aces to claim the first set 6-4, before breaking Doi's serve twice in the second to seal victory.
"It was tough. I started really slow, and my focus was up and down. She played so well, I'm just happy to win. My serve really helped me today," Rybakina said.
In the men's Adelaide ATP 250 event, second seed Karen Khachanov beat Croatia's third-seeded Marin Cilic 7-6(3) 6-3 to seal his spot in the final.
Russian Khachanov will take on the winner of the second semi-final, which sees local hope Thanasi Kokkinakis take on French top seed Gael Monfils.
Top seed Rafa Nadal held off a resurgent Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland on Saturday to earn a 6-4 7-5 win and book his place in the final of the Melbourne Summer Set 1 ATP 250 event, where he will take on American qualifier Maxime Cressy.
The Spaniard, playing his first competitive tournament since August, was given a stern examination by the dogged Ruusuvuori before coming out unscathed in just under two hours at the Rod Laver Arena.
Both players were solid on serve in the opening exchanges before Nadal's superior quality shone through as he secured a crucial break in the ninth game, eventually closing out the set with ease.
Ruusuvuori never allowed Nadal to settle in the second set, matching him from the baseline with a string of searing winners.
The world number 95 broke back at 3-5 but was left to rue a number of break point opportunities as Nadal did enough to secure the win.
"It's an important comeback. Starting another season here in Australia, it means a lot," said Nadal. "Of course, I need to do things better on court ... but it's step-by-step."
Asked how his body was coping, the 20-times major winner added: "Good. Let's see tomorrow ... the body is holding well. I need these matches to improve. It's about being patient and trying my best every single time."
Former world number three Grigor Dimitrov was handed a 7-5 7-6(9) defeat by the big-serving Cressy, who fired 17 aces past the Bulgarian and won when he converted his fourth match point to advance to the final.
Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime rallied to victory in the deciding doubles rubber against defending champions Russia to fire Canada into their first ATP Cup final on Saturday.
The Canadians beat the Russian pair of Daniil Medvedev and Roman Safiullin 4-6 7-5 10-7 in a final set super tiebreaker to seal the tie 2-1 and set up a Sunday final in the $10m (£7.4m) team event against Spain.
After Shapovalov and Medvedev won their respective singles matches, all four players were back at the Ken Rosewall Arena for the doubles.
The Russians appeared to have the upper hand before Canada levelled the match with a late break of serve in the second set and then carried the momentum in the super tiebreaker, which is played to 10 points instead of seven.
"Felix played unbelievable in the game to break and then in the tie-break as well, just making them play so much. It was awesome," Shapovalov said. "We kept fighting. We have great team chemistry, team spirit, so it helped us a lot."
Earlier, world number two Medvedev strolled past Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-0 to keep alive Russia's hopes of defending their ATP Cup title, sending the semi-final tie into the deciding doubles.
Denis Shapovalov had put Canada within one win of reaching the final with a battling 6-4 5-7 6-4 victory over Roman Safiullin in the first singles, putting Medvedev in a must-win situation in the second rubber.
"Denis helped me and the team to push myself. We had a tough start in the doubles, so to be able to come back in this way, it's really a team effort," Auger-Aliassime said.
"That's what the ATP Cup is about. You can still win after being one-all and losing a tough singles. It's really about the team effort and we're happy to be through. We're really thrilled for the whole team."
