2019 Mubadala World Tennis Championship: Rafael Nadal to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in summit clash

World No.1 Rafael Nadal reached the finals of the 2019 Mubadala World Tennis Championship after he defeated Russia's Karen Khachanov 6-1, 6-3. The four-time champion at the tournament will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in a bid for the former to clinch his fifth title and go past Novak Djokovic, who also has four titles to his name.

Nadal had a comfortable win against Khachanov even after having a shorter break after his Davis Cup victory in November. The Spaniard dominated the match with his serve and returns looking under control and a perfect blend of net points as well as defensive tennis. He broke in early to take a 2-1 lead and held the lead until breaking again and winning the set 6-1 in 41 minutes.

The second set also saw a similar story as Nadal continued to play with the same momentum and clinch the second set with ease. Khachanov did not have a great year even after being in the top 20 rankings and it could be seen in his match against Nadal as well. He had earlier gone past Hyeon Chung 7-6(7-4), 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

The second semifinal saw Stefanos Tsitsipas outclass the defending champion and World No.2 Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. After winning the first set, Djokovic was down 1-5 in the second set. He fought back and levelled the scores at 5-5. However, the Greek clinched the set with a tiebreaker. Tsitsipas made no major mistakes in the third set as he went on to dethrone the four-time champion at the tournament.

Djokovic will now face Khachanov in the third-place match on Saturday which will be followed by the title clash between Nadal and Tsitsipas. Mubadala World Tennis Championship is a non-ATP exhibition tournament which takes place in Abu Dhabi and plays a role of a warm-up tournament before the new ATP season starts. It is the 12th edition of the tournament this year.