Melbourne: Rafael Nadal held off Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 in four hours to reach the Australian Open semi-finals for the seventh time and keep his bid on track for a men's-record 21st Grand Slam singles title.
Nadal shares the record of 20 with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for most singles titles in men's tennis majors. Neither of those two are in Melbourne.
Nadal was dominant for the first 2 1/2 sets against No. 14 Shapovalov, but appeared to be hampered at times by a stomach problem in the third and fourth sets.
At a tournament where he's clinched the title only once (2009) and lost seven of his previous 13 quarterfinals by far his worst conversion rate at any of the four major tournaments Nadal suddenly looked vulnerable.
But following a seven-minute break between the last point of the fourth set and his first serve in the fifth, he recovered sufficiently to hold and then break Shapovalov's serve for a 2-0 lead in the decider.
He held onto the break and when he clinched the match, Nadal went to the corner and nodded his head a few times and did a subdued fist-pumping celebration. Then he went back on court and properly celebrated. Shapovalov left a shattered racket on the court.
The men's semifinals are both scheduled for Friday, giving Nadal two days off.
Nadal will play either seventh-seeded Matteo Berrettini or No. 17 Gael Monfils. Berrettin was a Wimbledon runner-up last year; Monfils is 35 and contesting his second quarterfinal in 17 trips to Australia.
Madison Keys continued her resurgent 2022 season by reaching the semifinals in Australia for the first time since 2015 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova.
And resurgent might be a major understatement.
The 1-hour, 25-minute win over Krejcikova contained 11 aces, 27 winners and just one dropped service game and was her 10th win in a row and 11th of the new year.
That includes five wins so far at Melbourne Park, starting with a straight-sets victory over 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, plus five in winning the Adelaide International her first title since 2019 and one at an earlier Melbourne tournament.
She only won 11 matches in 2021, saying she was focusing too heavily on results, and her year-end ranking slumped to 56th. It was the first time since 2014 she'd finished outside the Top 20.
Meanwhile, top-ranked Ash Barty also moved into the Australian Open semifinals with a 6-2, 6-0 win over No. 21 Jessica Pegula.
The 2021 Wimbledon champion is aiming to become the first Australian woman to win the Australian Open since 1978.
She will next face 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Madison Keys for a place in the final. It's Barty's second trip to the semifinals at Melbourne Park she lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin in 2020. Keys is back in the last four for the second time after losing to Serena Williams in the semifinals in 2015.
Barty saved the only break point she faced against Pegula and converted five of the nine chances she had to break serve.
Keys beat French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2 in the opening match on Rod Laver Arena
on Day 9.