Nadal saved three break points before an imperious forehand victor put him 5-3 up and he put away a simple volley to finally finish off Del Potro, then made his way around the net to embrace his tired opponent as he lay on the court following another tumble.
While Djokovic saw through Kei Nishikori with relative ease, winning the match in 4 sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, Nadal played one of the best matches of the season so far as he prevailed in 5 sets over Juan Martin Del Potro, winning the match 7-5, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in over four hours.
The victor will play either John Isner or Kevin Anderson in Sunday's final. He was playing, you know, good tennis again. Nadal is through to a Grand Slam semi-final for the fifth time since turning 30 while Djokovic has reached the last-four at a major for the first time since his 30th birthday. "I am just excited to be in the semis".
"Anything could happen, so this is a big achievement for me to get to the semi-finals at Wimbledon".
The mental strength, arguably the characteristic that propelled him to world No 1 for the first time in 2011 and kept him at the top of the game for five years is back.
After two years of physical and mental struggles, Djokovic appears fit and confident and ready to try to add to his tally of 12 grand slam titles.
But back came Nadal to level before an enthralling final set which was punctuated by great shot-making and spectacular dives and falls by both players.
With the Wimbledon lawns baked and playing more bouncy than usual after a long spell of hot weather in London, it could be the 29-year-old's best chance to stop Nadal's impressive run.
Like Federer and Anderson, Nadal and del Potro Nadal slugged it out for more than four pulsating hours before Spain's 17-times major victor finally landed the knockout punch. However, Nadal made a strong comeback in the second set to win it 7-5.
In a match that delivered quality throughout, Nadal recovered from two sets to one down to treat the Wimbledon crowd to a match few will forget.
A courageous effort from Isner but it is Anderson who will reach the final.
He eventually finished off world number 53 Simon in the match's third tiebreak to move into his second Wimbledon quarter-final where twice champion Nadal is waiting. "If I want to beat him, I have to come to the net very often and play hard with my forehands, with my backhands".
Ninth-seeded Isner has hit a tournament-high 135 aces on his way to reaching his first Wimbledon quarterfinal.
12 July 2018
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13 July 2018
