Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Roger Federer 6/3; 6/2; 6/3 to reach the finals. Earlier in the day, Ashleigh Barty of Australia halted American Amanda Anisimova’s dream run 6/7(4); 6/3; 6/3 to book a title match with Czech Marketa Vondrousova who defeated Britain’s Johanna Konta 7/5; 7/6(2).

In the windy conditions, Federer won the toss and opted to receive on the leeward side. The first point of the match involved many rallies and Nadal saved a break point before holding. He took Federer’s serve and held to lead 3-0. Nadal prevailed in a 10-minte sixth game and held to lead 5-2. Although Federer reduced the tally, Nadal served out the set 6/3.

The pro-Federer crowd applauded when the Swiss broke Nadal to lead 2-0 in the second set but Nadal broke back to take the third game and proceeded to win the set 6-4. In the third set, Nadal got the early service break to lead 2-1 and a second to lead 4-1. Thereafter, it was a straight cruise to the finish line, 6/2. It was a rare one-sided score in their 39th career meeting. Nadal will face the winner of the Djokovic-Thiem semifinals match delayed because of inclement weather.

Johanna Konta dominated the contest but the young southpaw’s defense earned the crucial points. The Briton missed an easy put-away for the first set and lost three straight games and the set 7/5. It was a repeat in the second set as Marketa rallied from 2-5 to force a tie-breaker which she won 7-2 for victory for her first appearance in a Grand Slam finals.
[ad]