NEW YORK _ If Rafael Nadal can't hold off this sudden threat of youth in Grand Slam tennis then, forget it, it can't be done.
The hunger of the younger was on full display in the U.S. Open semifinals Friday, as Nadal held off 23-year-old Matteo Berrettini in the second match, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-1 after 23-year-old Daniil Medvedev got past veteran Grigor Dimitrov in the first.
That made Medvedev the youngest U.S. finalist since 2010 when Novak Djokovic, then 23, played for the title. He was beaten by one Rafael Nadal in what was the first of three times that Nadal, now 33, was champion at Flushing Meadows. It was one of 18 major-tournament crowns for Nadal _ second only to Roger Federer's 20.
