The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Nadal all set to wear the crown

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 03, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Nadal all set to wear the crown

— PHOTO: AFP

Rafael Nadal.

CINCINNATI: Rafael Nadal marked an historic changing of the guard in tennis with a quarterfinal win at the Cincinnati Masters on Friday, ensuring Roger Federer will fall from the summit after more than four years.

The patient Spaniard, who has chased the Swiss for three seasons in a good-natured rivalry, guaranteed he will claim the World No. 1 ranking this month with a 7-6(3), 6-1 victory over Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti.

By reaching the semifinals, Nadal is assured of overtaking Federer on August 18 at the latest. If he can carry on to claim the title on Sunday he can claim the top spot on Monday.

Bhupathi-Knowles advance

Mahesh Bhupathi and Bahama’s Mark Knowles prevailed over American wildcards Mardy Fish and John Isner 7-5 6-7(5), 12-10 in the doubles quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy lost 6-7(6), 6-7(5) to Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in the quarterfinals.

Important results: At Cincinnati (Western & Southern Financial Group Masters): Quarterfinals: Rafael Nadal bt Nicolas Lapentti 7-6(3), 6-1; Andy Murray bt Carlos Moya 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; Ivo Karlovic bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(6), 7-6(3); Novak Djokovic bt Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-4.

At Montreal (Rogers Cup): Quarterfinals: Dominika Cibulkova bt Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-2; Marion Bartoli bt Ai Sugiyama 6-2, 6-3; Dinara Safina bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Victoria Azarenka bt Tamira Paszek 6-4, 7-5. — Agencies

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport