Rafael Nadal will face Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the Mexican Open final after winning his Australian Open final rematch with new world number one Daniil Medvedev.
The Spaniard prevailed 6-3 6-3 in a much-anticipated semi-final in Acapulco, repeating his victory from their epic contest in Melbourne a month ago.
In-form Norrie will face him for the title after claiming an impressive 6-4 6-4 win over world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Nadal started strongly against Medvedev and took the first set after claiming a crucial break in the fourth game.
Medvedev, who learned after his quarter-final success over Yoshihito Nishioka that he will supplant Novak Djokovic at the top of the world rankings next time they are updated, was broken again early in the second.
But the Russian responded and forced Nadal to save 11 break points across two service games as he sought a way back into the match.
In the end Nadal held on to extend his record for the season to 14 wins without loss, a career-best start to a campaign.
“I played some amazing points on the break points,” Nadal said in an interview after the match.
“The second set was very emotional. Daniil was playing very aggressive – drop shots, winners. It was a very difficult set. I feel lucky to win that set because he had a lot of chances.”
Norrie’s victory over Tsitsipas carried him into a second successive ATP final after his success at Delray Beach a week ago.
Tsitsipas had not dropped a set in the tournament prior to the match but was undone after Norrie broke in the ninth game of their opening set. World number 12 Norrie then broke again at the same point in the second set before going on to serve out for his eighth successive victory.
“I was able to dictate play to his backhand and defend my forehand quite well,” said Norrie. “I definitely felt that better in the second set, and I think my game is pretty good in these conditions.”
