The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Nadal enters Masters semifinals

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Friday, Nov 16, 2007
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Nadal enters Masters semifinals

Ferrer joins him in the last four with a win over Gasquet

SHANGHAI: Spain’s Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer romped to straight-sets wins to book their places in the Masters Cup semifinals on Thursday.

World number two Nadal downed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 before the in-form Ferrer thumped Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1 to top Gold Group with three wins out of three.

“I am very happy about my game today. I played a very, very good match — the best match here, and one of my best matches of the indoor season,” said Nadal.

“So I’m very happy about everything. I played a very complete match.”

Sixth-ranked Ferrer, the revelation of the tournament, was broken in the opening game but was otherwise flawless in the first set, arrowing 12 winners past Gasquet as he broke three times before serving out.

Gasquet, wilting in the face of Ferrer’s near-perfect tennis, held serve only once in the match as the Spaniard repeatedly pounded the lines, converting his first match point in just 59 minutes.

Earlier, a much-improved Nadal was rarely tested by the disappointing Djokovic, who had already been eliminated, sealing a straightforward win in one hour and 44 minutes.

Nadal started strongly, whipping backhand and forehand winners past Djokovic as he went 4-1 up without dropping a point on serve.

Signs of life

Djokovic finally showed signs of life in the sixth game, flashing a pair of deep winners before getting a lucky break on a let cord.

The Serb, serving at 5-3 down, saved the first set point with an instinctive behind-the-back pick-up but went long in the next game to put the Spaniard ahead.

Nadal broke for 2-1 in the second and was cruising to victory until facing two break points in the eighth, pumping his fists in delight as he escaped by cutting out Djokovic’s pass with a backhand volley.

Serving at 5-4, the lively Spaniard converted the first of two match points with a forehand down the line, raising his arms in celebration.

It was a better performance from Nadal, who won his opener against Gasquet but then suffered a shock defeat against Ferrer, one of a series of upsets in the $4.45m tournament featuring the world’s top eight players.

Djokovic, 20, has been the tournament’s biggest disappointment, going down three times in straight sets despite a breakthrough year in which he has won five titles and reached his first Grand Slam final.

“It wasn’t my week. Unfortunately I have to finish with the three losses, which is a bit disappointing,” he said. “But I don’t want to think negative. It’s been an amazing year, just too long.”

The results: Gold Group: Singles: Rafael Nadal bt Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4; David Ferrer bt Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1.

Doubles: Jonas Bjorkman & Max Mirnyi bt Jonathan Erlich & Andy Ram 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 (tiebreak). — AP

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