Nadal sets up classic Wimbledon re-match with Federer by crushing Querrey in the quarter-finals
RAFAEL NADAL set up the most-anticipated re-match in tennis history with what turned into another comfortable victory.
Nadal’s straight-sets disposal of Sam Querrey in the last eight means he will face eight-time champion Roger Federer at Wimbledon for the first time since he beat the Swiss in the epic 2008 final.
The third-seeded Spaniard overcame some spirited early resistance from his American opponent before racing clear to a 7-5 6-2 6-2 win.
When Nadal achieved an early break of serve, you wondered if Querrey was going to be brushed aside like most of the Spaniard’s opponent thus far at Wimbledon.
But the American, a semi-finalist himself in 2017 after beating Andy Murray, at least made the world No 2 work hard for the first set.
Games eight to 12 all featured break points. Querrey saved three then levelled the score at 5-5, only to be broken again to give Nadal the chance to serve it out.
The American had three chances to force the tiebreak but could not convert, and Nadal finally claimed the set after almost an hour of play.
He produced some brilliant tennis to break serve in the third game of the second set, just as he had done in the first.
But the Mallorcan maestro had to serve his way out of trouble when he offered Querrey two chances to hit back in the sixth game.
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A loose game from the American then handed the initative well and truly to his opponent, who moved two sets ahead with an hour and 32 minutes on the clock.
When Nadal won the first game of the third set on the Querrey serve, the game was up.
The men’s tournament has lacked big stories and talking points, but now Wimbledon 2019 can prepare for a clash of the titans.