The world No 1 faces Juan Martin del Potro in the last four
Thursday 7 September 2017 10:54, UK
Rafael Nadal beat 19-year-old Andrey Rublev in straight sets to reach his first US Open semi-final since claiming the title four years ago.
The world No 1, chasing his first title at Flushing Meadows since 2013, made light work of his quarter-final opponent with a 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory in one hour and 39 minutes.
Famously Federer and Nadal have never met in New York, and that will remain the case after Juan Martin Del Potro emulated his 2009 victory over the Swiss great with a 7-5 3-6 7-6 6-4 victory in the final match of the day.
When asked if he would watch the quarter-final clash, Nadal had said: "I'm going to be having dinner. In Spain we eat late. It's a match that I want to see, two great players and I will be waiting there for that semi-finals match against Roger or Juan Martin.
There will be no showdown with Federer but Nadal will be all to aware of the threat posed by Del Potro, the Argentine thrashed Nadal 6-2 6-2 6-2 on his way to the title eight years go and is likely to have the crowd on his side tto.
"I know it's going to be very difficult but at the same time I know the energy of this court is so special, I look forward to a magic evening.
"It's strange we've never played here because we played a lot of times in all the important events around the world. It would have been much more special if it had happened in the final but it's not possible this year, so we will come back and try to make that happen."
Nadal set the tone early on when breaking Rublev's opening service game, and though the Russian responded with a break of his own, the Spaniard reeled off five games in a row to take the opening set.
Rublev held twice early in the second set, but once again Nadal went on to win five straight games to take a commanding lead after just an hour on court.
The third set followed suit as Rublev, who beat Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin en route to reaching the quarters, was broken two more times by the powerful 31-year-old.
Sky Sports Tennis will have all the action from the US Open covered via our website sky.mnosports.com/tennis with our live blogs and updates throughout the fortnight as the Grand Slam year reaches its climax.
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