Four-time Mubadala World Tennis Championships Rafael Nadal cruised past Karen Khachanov 6-1 6-3 to reach the final in the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament where he will face Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Nadal saved break point chances to hold his serve in the third game for 2-1. The Spanish legend broke serve in the fourth time after a double fault from Khachanov. Nadal earned a double break in the sixth game when Khachanov made a forehand error and sealed the first set with a hold in the seventh game after 41 minutes.
Khachanov wasted game points in the first game of the second set before Nadal broke serve with a smash. The 12-time French Open champion held serve in the second game with a volley winner. He held serve in the fourth game before breaking serve to open up a 4-1 lead with a volley winner. Nadal saved a break point with a volley at the net, as he was serving at 4-3. Nadal sealed the win with a break in the ninth game.
“I played a good level of tennis tonight, better than what I thought. I was playing well at the end of the season, which was just 15 days ago when I was winning the Davis Cup. The break went quick. On one side it could be negative that we didn’t have a lot of time to rest, but on the other hand I finished the season playing well, which helps me to keep going”, said Nadal.
