Tennis aces Nadal, Murray set up semi-final clash

Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 7:06 AM Posted by Beijing News


Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray both had to work double shifts Friday before setting up a mouth-watering Monte Carlo Masters semi-final clash.

Top seed and world number one Nadal dispatched Nicolas Lapentti, in a match held over due to Thursday's torrential downpours, and then saw off Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic.

Murray, the fourth seed, defeated Italian Fabio Fognini, having held a one-set lead overnight, and then came back in the evening to end the challenge of Russian sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 7/1, 6-4.

"It was a long day," said the Scot. "I'm rather looking forward to getting to my bed. It was a long first set 77 minutes, but I played a good tiebreaker and I came back from 4-1 down in the second."

Four-time champion Nadal, bidding for a fifth consecutive trophy at the Country Club finished off Ecuador's Lapentti 6-3, 6-0. In late afternoon, he drove home a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ljubicic.

"It was a tough day but I got two good wins without losing a set," said the winner of the last four French Opens.

"That is good news, the best news is I'm in the semi-finals. I'm very happy for that.

"I played less than three hours, that's always important. The first match was not long and I was totally a hundred percent in the second."

Murray has never gone this far on clay and has never won three matches in a row on the surface.

In Saturday's other semi-final, world number three Novak Djokovic will line up against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka who put out Roger Federer in the third round.

Djokovic, under pressure from Murray in the world rankings, advanced over Spanish seventh seed Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

"The courts were really wet, even today you could feel it," said the Serbian.

"The balls were getting bald and really fast. It was tough to control, but overall I played really well.

"Today was a really good test, a really good match for me. I hung in there and just waited for my chances."

Wawrinka, the number 13 seed, beat German qualifier Andreas Beck 6-2, 6-4 and will be aiming for revenge against Djokovic after losing to the Serb three times in 2008.

Their last meeting came in the final of Rome 11 months ago, Wawrinka's finest week on court.

"When I came to that final, I already thought my tournament was successful and I didn't believe in my ability to beat him," said Wawrinka.

"This is one year later, and everything is different. I have more confidence in myself, and I'll try my best to win."





A man works on the rotor head of a windmill at the fair grounds in Hanover, Germany, where preparations are under way for the Hannover Messe fair for industrial technology. AFP/DDP/Nigel Treblin

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