World No. 1 Rafael Nadal survived a second-set scare to beat Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 7-5 and seal his place in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open on Friday.
Nadal will play Novak Djokovic for a place in today’s final after the Serbian third seed stayed on course for a fifth straight final appearance with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Croatian wildcard Ivan Ljubicic.
Second-seeded Swiss Roger Federer also advanced, surviving a gritty Andy Roddick fightback to beat the US sixth seed 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 and set up a last-four clash against Juan Martin Del Potro, who ruined Andy Murray’s 22nd birthday celebrations by beating the Scot 7-6, 6-3.
PHOTO: AP
Nadal survived an epic five-setter against Verdasco in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January and the seventh seed gave him another stiff test on the Mallorca native’s favored clay in the new Magic Box Stadium.
Verdasco went long with a forehand to hand the first set to his Davis Cup teammate, but fought back to open up a 4-0 lead in the second.
The French Open champion mounted an impressive comeback to reel off the next five games and Verdasco saved two match points on his serve before holding for 5-5.
Nadal, chasing a sixth title of the year, carved out three more match points at 6-5 and only needed one of them to seal his 149th win on clay in 153 matches since the beginning of 2005.
“I’m trying to find my rhythm, it’s taking me quite a bit to adapt to the height of the bounce,” Nadal said at a news conference, referring to the faster conditions in the higher altitude of the Spanish capital. “I’m very happy about today’s victory because it was a complicated match.”
Federer let slip a 3-0 lead in the second set tie-break to drop his first set of the tournament against a gutsy Roddick.
But the Swiss maestro found a higher gear in the deciding set, for one point playing an extraordinary shot from the baseline between his legs with his back to the net and chasing down Roddick’s drop volley to win the rally.
“I could, and should, have won in straight sets, but that’s what happens when you play Andy sometimes,” Federer told a news conference. “I thought it was a good match. Andy served very well and I came up with some nice points and those make me happy.”
Federer had never faced Roddick on clay before and improved his record against the former No. 1 to 18 wins and two defeats going back to 2001.
Roddick, who has had six weeks off and got married in Texas last month, was not too downcast.
“There were some good things to take out of this,” Roddick said. “I’ve definitely felt worse going into the French Open before.”
Murray let slip a 5-2 first-set lead before losing the tie-break 7-4 and Del Potro grabbed the crucial break in the sixth game of the second set in a match that finished well after midnight.
Djokovic got frustrated with himself at times against the 30-year-old Ljubicic, but saved two break points in the second set and wrapped up victory on his first match point when the Croat went long with a return.
“I will try tomorrow to gather my physical and mental strength, and make a surprise,” Djokovic said of his semi-final against Nadal.
■WOMEN’S SINGLES
REUTERS, MADRID
World No. 1 Dinara Safina had to work hard to overcome unseeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-4, 6-3 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Madrid Open.
The powerful Russian, bidding for a second straight clay court title after her success in Rome last week, gave an error-strewn performance before coming through in the late afternoon sun.
A superb forehand gave Safina the first set, but she immediately dropped her serve at the start of the second, bouncing her racket on the ground in disgust.
Bondarenko continued to frustrate Safina before wilting and losing her serve for the third time.
“I started pretty good, 3-0, and then I made a couple of errors and let her come into the match ... I lost a little concentration,” Safina told reporters. “I wouldn’t say I’m playing better now than at the beginning of the year, it’s more like something wasn’t clicking. I just think that now I have found my game.”
Safina gets to face another unseeded player, Patty Schnyder, in the last four after the Swiss upset fourth seed Jelena Jankovic 7-6, 6-3.
Schnyder won a first set tie-break and took the attack to Jankovic, breaking three times in the second set to close the match.
“I had a lot of trouble with the high balls. I have a good game, but I just have to learn how to close out those points at the net,” Jankovic said. “I was unlucky in the tie-break and then it was all downhill. I want to analyze the match and then quickly forget it.”
On the other side of the draw, former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo fought back from a set down to beat Hungarian Agnes Szavay 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 and set up a meeting with Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki.
Two-times Grand Slam winner Mauresmo, now 21st in the rankings, looked to be regaining her form ahead of the French Open, which starts at the end of this month.
She broke Szavay’s serve in the first, third and seventh games of the third set, then punched the air in triumph when her opponent netted a forehand on the first match point.
Mauresmo, who lost in the first round in Rome last weekend, told reporters: “I am very pleased. I wasn’t too worried about the defeat [last week] because I felt I was tired after the Fed Cup tie that we played at home. I was confident I could do better in Madrid.”
Wozniacki, the ninth seed, was helped by some poor serving from Russian qualifier Vera Dushevina as she broke six times on the clay in the new Magic Box Stadium to come through 6-0, 6-4.
She is projected to become the first Danish woman to break into the top 10 when the rankings are updated tomorrow.
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