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The last defeated opponent of Rafael Nadal praised him "like a lion in the jungle", while his neighbor hailed the fearless Spaniard as "the greatest fighter of this sport".
No wonder Nadal does not let cramps slow down his run to a fourth crown at the US Open in New York.
Nadal dismissed worries over an apparent arm injury that would have required a medical break in his hard-fought victory over Diego Schwartzman in the quarter-finals before his half-match against Matteo Berrettini.
"I feel good, it was a very wet day, a very heavy day, I had some cramps at the end of the second and, yes, five first games, six games of the third," said the No. 2 worldwide.
"And then I take salt, that's all, and then it's over, the body is fine, I think, no, no big problems."
Generally by his intensity and his desire to win every title, Nadal celebrated his 6-4 win 7-5 6-2 against Schwartzman as if it was the first of his career and, unsurprisingly, the 18-time major champion was not in the mood to develop on the assessment of the Argentine lion-shaped.
"I do not like talking about me too much because it's not beautiful," Nadal said.
"No, I think I've had a stable character all my life, my whole career, it helps to be mentally focused, relaxed and always ready to respect each opponent, to play every point, to play every game, to play every set and each match until the end.
"So it's one of the keys to success, but honestly, not everything is perfect." I think my success is not solely due to the fighting spirit. There are a lot of things after that. "
Berrettini, 24th seeded, will play his first major semifinal, Nadal, his 33rd.
But the Spaniard refuses to underestimate the 23-year-old.
"He's in the semifinal and Berrettini has a great year," Nadal said.
"He's in the semifinals and has won a lot of good games, so what can you expect in the semifinals of a Grand Slam match." You can not expect an easy opponent. can not expect an easy match. "
The winner will face the winner of Friday's first semifinal against fifth seed Daniil Medvedev and resurgent Grigor Dimitrov. None of them won the title for the major title.
On the same side of the draw as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, few people would have let Dimitrov and Medvedev meet in the semifinals.
Bulgarian Dimitrov, former world No. 3, fell to 78 in the standings, winning against Federer – his first in eight attempts – all the more surprising.
"It was so low that I did not even want to go," he said in a miserable year.
"It was obviously an injury, points, a ranking, it's the lowest point of all the players, the last six or seven months have been pretty difficult for me, but I had someone to count on, my friends, my family.
"The next thing you know, you're almost at the end of the year, you have a result like this – it's pretty special for me."
US OPEN MEN SEMI-FINAL SCHEDULE (AEST schedule):
Saturday 6am
5-Daniil Medvedev (RUS) against Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Not before 7:30
2-Rafael Nadal v. 24-Matteo Berrettini (ITA)
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