Rafael Nadal beats Daniil Medvedev in Australian Open rematch to reach Acapulco final

Rafael Nadal has defeated new men's world number one Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3 in a rematch of their Australian Open final to storm into the decider of the ATP 500 event in Acapulco.

Nadal had to fight back from two sets down in their previous meeting in Melbourne last month to clinch a men's record 21st major singles title.

But in Mexico, it was the Spaniard who got off to a fast start.

Medvedev was forced to defend a couple of breakpoints in his very first service game, before Nadal broke minutes later to take a 3-1 lead, which he held onto to claim the first set 6-3.

Nadal appeared to carry his momentum into the second set, breaking serve early to go 1-0 up.

But Medvedev grew into the contest as the set progressed and began causing the Spaniard all kinds of problems with his backhand drop shot.

Medvedev earned a total of 11 breakpoints across just two of Nadal's service games in the second set, but the Australian Open champion dug deep to hold serve on both occasions.

Nadal's service under pressure took the wind out of Medvedev's sails and the Russian was broken once again as an unforced backhand error handed his opponent the win and set up a clash against British number one Cameron Norrie in the final.

Sixth seed Norrie prevented world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas from reaching a second-straight final in Acapulco, winning 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 18 minutes.

Reuters