Top seed Rafa Nadal held off a resurgent Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland yesterday to earn a 6-4 7-5 win and book his place in the final of the Melbourne Summer Set 1 ATP 250 event, where he will take on American qualifier Maxime Cressy.
The Spaniard, playing his first competitive tournament since August, was given a stern examination by the dogged Ruusuvuori before coming out unscathed in just under two hours at the Rod Laver Arena.
Both players were solid on serve in the opening exchanges before Nadal’s superior quality shone through as he secured a crucial break in the ninth game, eventually closing out the set with ease.
Ruusuvuori never allowed Nadal to settle in the second set, matching him from the baseline with a string of searing winners.
The world number 95 broke back at 3-5 but was left to rue a number of break point opportunities as Nadal did enough to secure the win.
“It’s an important comeback. Starting another season here in Australia, it means a lot,” said Nadal. “Of course, I need to do things better on court... but it’s step-by-step.”
Asked how his body was coping, the 20-times major winner added: “Good. Let’s see tomorrow... the body is holding well. I need these matches to improve. It’s about being patient and trying my best every single time.”
Former world number three Grigor Dimitrov was handed a 7-5 7-6(9) defeat by the big-serving Cressy, who fired 17 aces past the Bulgarian and won when he converted his fourth match point to advance to the final.
“I’m very pleased with my tennis,” said Cressy. “Nothing happens by luck. I’m very proud of myself for staying focused the whole tournament so far. I played incredible today...”
Unseeded Cressy dominated the opening set but was drawn into a battle in the second set by his more experienced opponent.
Dimitrov’s tenacity denied Cressy on match point three times before he eventually succumbed, handing the American an 11-9 win in the tiebreak when he steered his shot wide.
Second seed Simona Halep beat China’s Zheng Qinwen 6-3 6-2 to set up a meeting with Veronika Kudermetova in today’s final of the women’s Melbourne Summer Set 1.
The former world number one was rarely troubled by the hard-hitting Zheng and will meet third-seeded Russian Kudermetova following top seed Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from their semi-final with an abdominal strain.
Zheng, aged 19 and ranked No 126, has risen up the WTA ladder of late, having been ranked No 287 one year ago. Zheng reached her first WTA singles quarter-final and semi-final this week as a qualifier, beating former World No 2 Vera Zvonareva and former No 20 Ana Konjuh along the way.
“I’m really happy that I can play the final for the first tournament of the year,” Halep told the press after her win yesterday. “I’m feeling good, and I’m happy with the way I played.
“I’m really happy with the way I bounced back,” said Halep, who struggled past Viktorija Golubic in a three-set quarter-final on Friday. 
“It’s always tough, first tournament of the year, few matches played, tough matches. Yesterday was really tough, and today I felt like I played much better, I served much better, and that means physically I’m in a good spot.”
Halep is currently ranked No 20 after an injury-plagued 2021, which is the lowest she has been ranked at the start of a season since 2013, when she was No 47. But Halep has been going deep at events again since the end of last season. This is the third straight tournament where she has reached the semi-finals or better.
Halep’s sturdy form continued as the two-time Grand Slam champion had enough to quell the challenge from Zheng and end the teenager’s run after an hour and 24 minutes of play. Halep was never broken during the match and claimed two-thirds of points when returning the Zheng second serve.
Meanwhile Kudermetova is now into her third career WTA singles final. The World No.31 made her first WTA singles final one year ago in Abu Dhabi, then earned her first WTA singles title at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston in April.
In the Melbourne Summer Set 2 tournament, Amanda Anisimova reached the final with a comprehensive 6-2 6-0 win yesterday over number three seed Daria Kasatkina.
The 20-year-old American will take on Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who beat American Ann Li 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 yesterday.
“I had a slow start yesterday (in the quarter-finals) and me my and team talked about it a little bit because I don’t want that happening again,” said Asinimova.
“So we just went out in the warm-up, had a little bit more of an intense warm-up today and I came out playing really well, so I’m really happy with how I played today.”