MADRID — A year ago, Stefanos Tsitsipas was still a teenager and still playing in the qualifying tournaments of some of the most prestigious events on clay. But he has come a long way in a short time, often a mark of tennis greatness. Late Saturday night with the crowd and the odds very much against him, Tsitsipas reaffirmed his rapid rise by surprising Rafael Nadal, the most successful clay-court player in history. His 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Nadal in the semifinals of the Madrid Open earned Tsitsipas a spot in Sunday’s final against Novak Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked player. In the women’s final, Kiki Bertens won the biggest singles title of her career by defeating Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-4. A victory would have allowed the third-ranked Halep to return to No. 1 next week, displacing Naomi Osaka. Instead Bertens — with her improved serve, defense and variety — will reach a ranking milestone.<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>There is fire in the eyes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as they get closer to a grand slam and move into a different mental space, ready to suffer for their art. But there is another young lion with, “the look”: the 20-year-old Greek wonder Stefanos Tsitsipas. His stunning 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win here over Nadal, a five-times champion, was adorned in grit and passion, earning him a place in Sunday’s final against an opponent celebrating a total of 250 weeks as No1 in the world. Defeat here, after earlier struggles on his favoured clay, have suddenly cast doubt on 32-year-old Nadal’s chances of winning the French Open – previously considered a heresy. Djokovic, bidding to hold all four majors concurrently for a second time, will go to Roland Garros with a spring in his step if he can beat Tsitsipas, who must be exhausted after a hectic week. It is a measure of his gathering charisma and willingness to gamble on his talent that Nadal’s home crowd gave Tsitsipas polite encouragement in his many moments of heroics, although there was no doubting they wanted their own man to win. Nadal tried eye-bulgingly, fist-pumpingly to deliver for them in a tennis match that had all the energy of a world title fight but Tsitsipas countered the closing blows brutally. Nadal had dropped only one set all week – to Félix Auger-Aliassime – and was a firm favourite to be playing his 54th match against Djokovic in the final. However, he was broken three times in losing the first set and looked vulnerable. He then gave up only one point on his serve in the second set to level the match and it was the young contender who seemed spent. It was an astonishing turnaround by Nadal and there was more to come. Tsitsipas, behind in the serving cycle, had to save two break points straight away. He won a magnificent point at the end of a long rally in the next game to grab a couple of looks on Nadal’s serve but could not convert them. He pounced in the fifth game, though, moving Nadal around with power and angles for the break. Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic shake hands after their semi-final. Photograph: A Perez Meca/REX/Shutterstock A backhand for a double break and 5-2, followed by Nadal’s dumped volley, silenced Court Manolo Santana. Tsitsipas, who had been up until 4am after fulfilling a doubles commitment, had the verve of youth about him as he all but ran to the service line to finish the job. Nadal bullied his way to two break points and Tsitsipas hit long. There was room left yet, serving at 3-5, for the Mallorcan to deliver late drama. Tsitsipas got to match point; Nadal saved. Tsitsipas scorched the dirt with a crosscourt forehand for another chance. Nadal cashed in on a daring and difficult half-volley at the net for a second deuce point. But he clipped the net and again stared at the exit. An outrageous drop-shot kept him in the tournament. He butchered a backhand volley: match point number four – and one last weary shot did for him after two hours and 35 minutes. Tsitsipas went to his courtside chair and wept. Later he said it was “definitely the best match of my life”. It is rare to witness Nadal searching vainly for clues on clay. On Sunday it will be Djokovic’s turn to feel the heat of a player who knows no fear on a tennis court, whatever the surface. Djokovic, too, had to draw on all his controlled passion to dig himselfout of a few holes when beating Dominic Thiem, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) over two hours and 22 minutes in the first semi-final. “Coming into the match, I thought he was the favourite to win,” Djokovic said of the Austrian, who beat Federer on Friday and Nadal on his way to winning in Barcelona. “Next to Rafa he probably is the player who puts most spin and rotation on the ball. I knew that I need to be closer to the line and try to dictate the play, mix up the pace. If he has a lot of time, he is as good of a player as you can get on this surface. “It would be deserved if he would win the match. He was a break up in both sets. Maybe I should have closed it out when I was serving for it 6-5 but I got a little bit nervous and made some unforced errors. I wasn’t serving that well. But when I needed it in tie-break, I got it.” It was Djokovic’s first win against a top-10 opponent on the surface since 2017. In a women’s final that brought together two of the game’s most passionate players, Kiki Bertens’ tears switched from despair to joy when she beat the world No 3, Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-4, erasing the memories of falling to Petra Kvitova in a draining three-setter here a year ago. The Dutch player, who moves into the world’s top five for the first time, looked shattered when she went 3-1 down in the first set but she worked her way back into contention and was relieved to see Halep’s forehand float long on set point. Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands celebrates winning the women’s final 6-4, 6-4 against Romania’s Simona Halep. Photograph: Sergio Pérez/Reuters Bertens broke early in the second set, gave it straight back and broke again, each time Halep putting too much on her forehand as she strove for the lines. Halep, who had fought off a heavy cold most of the week, looked drained at the end but saved two match points before a Bertens drop-shot was just beyond her control. “I know I can beat a lot of girls,” said the beaming winner. “I can compete with the best of the world on clay.”<doc-sep>Madrid (AFP) - Simona Halep closed in on a return to the top of the world rankings after beating Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-0 on Friday to advance to the Madrid Open final while men's top seed Novak Djokovic made the semi-finals without hitting a ball. Halep, currently number three in the world, will reclaim the number one ranking should she win her third title at the Caja Magica. Bencic had defeated Halep in their last two matches, but the reigning French Open champion, who lifted the trophy in Madrid in 2016 and 2017, came through in just under two hours. World number one and two-time Madrid champion Djokovic, meanwhile, walked into the semi-finals when ninth seed Marin Cilic withdrew before their match with stomach problems. "I am sorry to announce that I must withdraw from today's match. I have had a terrible night dealing with a case of food poisoning," wrote Cilic in a statement. "I am extremely disappointed to have my time in Madrid end in this way. Thank you for the support." In the semi-final on Saturday, Djokovic will face either Roger Federer or 2018 finalist Dominic Thiem. Halep awaits either Dutch seventh seed Kiki Bertens, a finalist in Madrid last year, or 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens. "It's such a nice feeling to be back in the final here. I really enjoy playing in Madrid, it motivates me," Halep said. The third seed comfortably claimed the opening set but let her game lapse slightly in the second. Bencic, who opened the door for Halep to possibly return to the top of the world ranking with her quarter-final defeat of current number one Naomi Osaka, took a tight second set in a tiebreaker. But Halep pulled herself together to blitz Bencic in the third as she raced to a victory that increases her chances of returning to the top of the pile. "I was rushing too much in the second-set tiebreaker," Halep said. I was missing too many easy balls -- I lost control of that tiebreak. "In the third I just started over again, I played smarter, opening up the court and being more aggressive."<doc-sep>
Even Roger Federer struggles to do miracles back to back. After saving two match points against Gael Monfils in the 1,200th win of his career, he blew two of his own against Dominic Thiem on Friday when victory would have sent him into Saturday’s semi-finals against Novak Djokovic for the 48th time. As it is, the world No 1 – who watched the second semi-final of the Madrid Masters on TV after the late withdrawal of Marin Cilic with food poisoning – faces Thiem, eighth in the ATP rankings, who was well worth his 3-6, 7-6 (11), 6-4 win. The winner of that semi-final plays either Stefanos Tsitsipas – who beat his main rival, Alexander Zverev, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 – or five-time champion Rafael Nadal, who punctured the revival of Stan Wawrinka by 6-1, 6-2, in 68 minutes in the last match of a long and entertaining day. When three match points came Thiem’s way after two hours and 10 minutes of an enthralling contest, in front of Manolo Santana on his 81st birthday on his eponymous court, the Austrian could not hide his joy. Even at 37 and returning to the clay after an absence of nearly three years, Federer remains a formidable scalp. On Saturday and Sunday Thiem will try to complete the rare treble of beating Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in the same clay-court season. “The test today was huge and tomorrow is a different game,” he said. “Novak has won the last three slams and he is at the top of the rankings again. The challenge couldn’t be bigger.” Federer was disappointed but will approach the French Open in three weeks’ time with renewed confidence. He said: “Gael and Dominic are tough on the clay so it was a good battle. I feel good on the clay right now.” But he said of the Rome Open next week, “I’m not sure if I’m going to go.” Stepping into the Austrian’s second serve, he gave Thiem neither time nor room to find a convincing rhythm in the first set. All looked well for the man who makes the difficult look ridiculously simple. However, he made it too hard for himself in the second-set tie-break, saving five set points but not a sixth, as Thiem smashed a winner to extend the struggle into a third frame, where he finished the job with a solid service game to nil. Dominic Thiem boosted his French Open title credentials with an impressive display against Federer. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images There was plenty of edge between Tsitsipas and Zverev when they faced off on Arantxa Sanchez, the tournament’s second court, after the German’s recent criticism of the Greek’s game. The loser, who does not lack for attitude, would only say later, “He’s obviously improved a lot.” In the closing match Nadal pounced on Wawrinka from the start and won going away. He has lifted this trophy five times; only a fool would bet against him making it half a dozen. The Spaniard said later: “It was one of the days that everything worked out and I have done it really well.” Earlier Simona Halep, who has been coping with a heavy head cold, gave herself a chance of returning to No 1 in the world for the third time after breaking the stubborn resistance of the resurgent world No 18, Belinda Bencic, to win a ragged, engaging semi-final, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-0, at her favourite workplace. Whether or not Kiki Bertens has done her a favour by putting out Sloane Stephens 6-2, 7-5, is tough to call. The seventh seed said later: “I went to sleep really late last night. The body had to recover from that, so I’m happy to get through here today and really happy to be in another final in Madrid.” So Halep will either head for Rome as a three-time Madrid champion – which would displace Naomi Osaka at the top of the rankings – or not. As she remarked later: “I don’t want to think about it. For me it’s more important to win the title.” Either way she will be in good shape to defend her French Open title in three weeks’ time, settling in quickly with her new coach and compatriot, Daniel Dobre, after splitting with the Australian Darren Cahill before Christmas.