Melbourne: The injuries returned to haunt Rafa Nadal once more as the Spaniard conceded his quarterfinal to Croat Marin Cilic after the two had shared four sets in their pulsating men’s singles quarterfinal encounter here, Tuesday. Troubled by a hip injury which had him hobbling from the middle of the fourth set, Nadal threw in the towel after going down a break early on in the fifth set with the score reading 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7-5), 2-6, 2-0.
Nadal took a medical time-out late in the fourth set for treatment on an apparent hip injury and was clearly struggling as he battled on in the evening match. Then at the beginning of the fifth set, he called out the trainer again and was seen lying prostrate on court receiving treatment. But it was to no avail.
He carried on bravely in the fifth set, saved four breakpoints on his serve in the second game, before Cilic got the break with a cross-court pass. A pumped up Cilic never saw Nadal shake hands with the chair umpire to concede the match before running on to embrace Cilic.
“It was kind of hard to accept what was happening, even though it had worked in my favour,” Cilic said. “But it was a great match and it was sad that injury played a cruel blow. Today, I think tennis was the ultimate loser, because we both played great.”
Earlier in the day, Kyle Edmund became only the fourth British man to reach the Australian Open semifinals in the post-1968 Open Era with an impressive win over World No.3.
The unseeded Edmund, ranked 49, won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 169 minutes and now he will have to beat Cilic to continue his dream run.
“He hits very hard,” Cilic who leads 1-0 in the head-to-head record, said about his adversary. “It sure is going to be a tough affair,” the Croatian added.
By winning Edmund also became only the sixth British man to make the last four at a Grand Slam. It also marked his first victory against a top-five ranked player.
All through the match, Edmund kept Dimitrov under pressure with his powerful forehand and serve. “I am loving it right now, just the way I’m playing. I’m 23 years old, my first Grand Slam semifinal, I am definitely living the moment. To beat a quality of player like Grigor, it certainly gives me confidence that I can play against the best.”
Agencies
