MELBOURNE, Australia — None of the men’s singles semifinalists at the Australian Open has made it this far unscathed.
All have been pushed to five sets in the heat at Melbourne Park this year.
Rafael Nadal, making his latest comeback, dropped more than 10 pounds and had to battle through nausea and dizziness during his toasty, testy victory over Denis Shapovalov of Canada on Tuesday in Rod Laver Arena. Daniil Medvedev of Russia had to save a match point in the same stadium on Wednesday before prevailing against Shapovalov’s countryman, Felix Auger-Aliassime, in an after-midnight thriller.