By Tennis Now | Saturday, October 14, 2017
Rafael Nadal fought off a set point in the first set defeating Marin Cilic, 7-5, 7-6 (3), for his 16th consecutive win that vaulted him into the Shanghai Rolex Masters final.
Photo credit: Shanghai Rolex Masters Facebook
Rafael Nadal put his problem-solving skills to good use charging into his 10th final of the season in Shanghai.
Nadal fought off a set point in the first set defeating Marin Cilic, 7-5, 7-6 (3), for his 16th consecutive win that vaulted him into the Shanghai Rolex Masters final.
More: Federer To Face Del Potro
Aiming for his seventh title of the season, the world No. 1 will play either second-ranked Roger Federer or 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in tomorrow’s final.
It was Nadal’s 871st career victory moving him ahead of Andre Agassi for sole possession of sixth place on the Open Era career wins list.
Denying set point in the opener, Nadal moved out to a 3-2 second-set lead. A fierce Cilic broke back for 3-all when Nadal nudged a forehand volley into net and banged his Babolat racquet against his leg in frustration.
It was the first time all week Nadal surrendered serve.
The 31-year-old Spaniard broke for 5-4 and served for the final only to see Cilic blast a forehand down the line to earn his second break for 5-all.
In the tie break, Nadal drew successive errors from the Wimbledon finalist to take a 4-2 lead. Cilic missed a wild forehand wide then hit a backhand wide—his 40th error of the match—for triple match point.
Curling a wide serve into the corner, Nadal closed his fifth straight win over Cilic advancing to his first Shanghai final since 2009.