Rafael Nadal drops first set but rallies to defeat Rinky Hijikata at US Open final
Rafael Nadal has pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind win to claim his fourth Wimbledon title and set up a showdown with Andy Murray on the final day.A win in Friday’s all-Swiss-American quarter-final was thought to be the ultimate prize, yet Nadal lost the first set in just 29 minutes, despite being down 5-4.The world number two, however, came on level terms to force the deciding set in two tiebreaks.Nadal saved four break points in the first set and then twice rallied to level it at 5-5 before Hijikata netted a winner at 5-7 and 5-8.On Tuesday, Nadal had made it through to the last four with his biggest title haul since the Australian Open in January 2013.He will face Murray in the final on Friday.Hijikata rallied through the back-nine, converting his first match point of the match at 10-9 and then levelling at 11 games to love.The Scot had lost all four of his previous matches in the semi-finals and then in a heartbreaking final against Novak Djokovic at last month’s Australian Open.But he rallied brilliantly to edge closer to his first grand slam semi-final, winning four of the six first sets to progress.Nadal, playing as his first Wimbledon final after winning the Olympic Games singles tournament in London, looked to have the upper hand from the start.But after Hijikata netted a winner at 4-4 in the opening game, Nadal stormed back and saved a final set point before taking the first set in 29 minutes.A second set went to a deciding tiebreak where Nadal was 2-0 down.Hijikata had already converted the first two matchpoint opportunities and then broke at 8-8.But Nadal saved three set points and then broke the serve of Hijikata at 6-3 to go on to take