Australian Open: It Is End Of The Road For Rafael Nadal

 

It came as a shock exit for second-seeded player Rafael Nadal to have to leave the Australian Open in the quarter-final and denied the title bid for his 19th Grand Slam title. 

Stefanos Tsitispas happened to be the roadblock for the Spaniard en route to vying for his first title of the season and had him kicked out in a five-setter in a stunning rally to clinch victory by 3-6 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 7-5 after over four hours of play. 

Nadal entered the round with a clean sheet from his previous matches but Stefanos was the opponent that withstood that aggressive play from the former world number one and rallied from two sets down to become the second player to beat the Spaniard despite trailing two sets. 

"I'm speechless. I have no words to describe what happened," Stefanos admittedly recalled making a comeback to make the last four. "I don't know what happened after the third. I fly like a bird, everything was working for me. The emotions at the very end are indescribable."

The Greek winner won 68 percent of his first serve and was denied three break advantages by the Spaniard who served 15 aces. The one-time champion, Nadal, has failed to lift the trophy on four different occasions he reached the finals since winning the tournament for the first time in 2009.