Nadal – Djokovic Semifinal Rogers Cup Montreal 2013
Rafael Nadal edged World No. 1 and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) in a pulsating Coupe Rogers semi-final Saturday night to earn a shot at his 25th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title against home favourite Milos Raonic.
“I said yesterday the only chance to win against Novak, the only tactic is to play very well, ” Nadal said. “To play very well, I have to play aggressive. If not, I cannot play very well on this kind of surface. And I did. I played a very high level tonight, I think. I played with the right decisions in the important moments. Yes, the serve worked well during the whole night. And the shots from the baseline, I tried to stay very close to the baseline, go inside when I had the chance.”
Nadal now leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 21-15 and pulls closer to Djokovic on hard courts, trailing 6-11. Their 36th overall meeting ties Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe for the most in the Open Era.
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