Rafael Nadal came from behind to beat Pablo Carreno Busta and reach the Paris Masters semi-finals on Friday, handing Argentinian Diego Schw...
Rafael Nadal came from behind to beat Pablo Carreno Busta and reach the Paris Masters semi-finals on Friday, handing Argentinian Diego Schwartzman the last ATP Tour Finals place in the process.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion claimed a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory, ending his fellow Spaniard’s hopes of qualifying for the season-ending tournament in London.
Nadal will play Alexander Zverev for a place in Sunday’s final as he bids to win the trophy for the first time, after the German beat Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 7-6 (7/1).
“The thing that really matters to me, I need to return better,” said Nadal.
“My serve is working well, I think, so the rest of the game more or less I am playing better and better. I need to return better if I want to have chances to keep going.”
Schwartzman had his fate taken out of his own hands earlier on Friday with a quarter-final thrashing by Daniil Medvedev, who will face Milos Raonic in the other semi-final.
Top seed Nadal, playing his first event since winning a record-extending 13th French Open title across Paris at Roland Garros last month, would equal Novak Djokovic’s record of 36 Masters titles with success this week.
The 34-year-old’s best effort at Bercy Arena was a 2007 final loss to David...
