TORONTO: Rafael Nadal beat Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 on Saturday to set up a final with Stefano Tsitsipas at the Toronto Masters.
The Spanish icon will try to spoil the 20th celebrations of the Greek youngster who reached the second final of his career by beating Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), saving a match point in victory.
World number one Nadal won a battle of the tennis generations with Tsitsipas last April in the Barcelona title match.“To win this match is important, it’s very important to be in the final of Toronto,” Nadal said.
“I’m motivated every day when I wake up, there is always something to improve,” said the 32-year-old.Top seed Nadal edged out the first set in a tiebreaker after a two-hour, rain-delayed start.
In the second, Nadal went about finishing up his business with a break in the third game and on his way to the win in just over an hour and a quarter.
Tsitsipas became the first man since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga here in 2014 to defeat four Top 10 players at the same event.He dispatched Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev before downing Anderson.
