Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray both had to work double shifts on Friday before setting up a mouth-watering Monte Carlo Masters semi-final clash.
Top seed and world No. 1 Nadal dispatched Nicolas Lapentti, in a match held over because of 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.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“It was a long day,” the Scot said. “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. Late in the 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,” the winner of the last four French Opens said. “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 100 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 the other semi-final, world No. 3 Novak Djokovic will line up against Switzerland’s 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,” the Serbian said. “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 No. 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 last year.
Their last meeting came in a final in 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,” Wawrinka said. “This is one year later and everything is different.”
■BARCELONA OPEN
AP, BARCELONA, SPAIN
Francesca Schiavone of Italy defeated Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
Roberta Vinci of Italy also advanced after beating Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-3, 6-3 before rain suspended play for the day.
Sixth-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia led 6-1, 1-2 against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain when play on the clay court was called off.
■FAMILY CIRCLE CUP
REUTERS, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
Top seed Elena Dementieva reached the semi-finals of the Family Circle Cup on Friday when Dominika Cibulkova retired in the second set because of a left thigh strain.
The Russian, who had lost only four games in her two previous matches, was leading 6-4, 1-0 in the quarter-final when the seventh-seeded Slovakian retired.
Olympic champion Dementieva will next meet Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, who beat France’s Virginie Razzano 6-2, 6-0.
It will be the fourth meeting between the two players and Dementieva has a 2-1 advantage in the match-up.
In other action, sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli knocked off Melinda Czink 6-4, 6-1, while Sabine Lisicki beat Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-0.
Bartoli and Lisicki will meet in the second semi-final, with Bartoli holding a 1-0 advantage over her opponent.
Bartoli has won four tour titles and made the Wimbledon final two years ago.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB