Rafael Nadal stayed on track for a successful title defense at the Indian Wells ATP tournament with a commanding 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
The Spanish left-hander came from 3-1 down in the second-set tiebreak, winning the last three points of the match at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to book a place in the last four against big-serving Ivan Ljubicic.
Croat Ljubicic, who turns 31 on Friday, earned himself an early birthday present by powering past Argentina’s Juan Monaco 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 earlier in the day to reach the semi-finals.
PHOTO: EPA
Third seed Nadal, twice champion at Indian Wells, broke Berdych twice to take the opening set in just over an hour on a blustery evening on the showpiece stadium court.
After the players traded service breaks in the seventh and eighth games of the second, the set went into a tiebreak, that Nadal clinched when the 19th-seeded Czech netted a backhand.
“I played really well, especially the first set,” the Spanish world No. 3 told reporters after beating Berdych for the sixth time in a row. “The first eight, nine games of the match were at an unbelievable level, later the wind came a little bit and it was more difficult to play.”
PHOTO: AFP
“I played aggressive with decision and that was the match,” added Nadal, who has shaken off the knee injury that forced him to abandon his Australian Open title defense in January.
Former world No. 3 Ljubicic unleashed 11 aces and 39 winners to wrap up victory in 1 hour, 47 minutes against Monaco on a hot afternoon in the California desert.
Ljubicic sealed the win by firing down a first serve at 222kph that Monaco was unable to return, prompting the Croat to leap into the air and thrust his right arm skywards in celebration.
“It’s a great win and a great present to have a day off just before the semi-finals,” Ljubicic said after reaching the last four in an ATP Tour event for the first time since his victory in Lyon in October.
“I got a phone call from my brother just after match. He said that in the Croatian time zone, I finished just a couple seconds before my birthday, so it’s fantastic,” he added with a broad grin.
“I’m playing fantastic tennis,” said the Croat, who eliminated second seed Serb Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. “Now the key is to keep going.”
Monaco broke 1.93m-tall Ljubicic in the seventh game of the match to take the opening set, but the 20th-seeded Croat then took control with a deft mix of power and creativity.
He broke the Argentine’s serve twice in both the second and third sets to become the first Croat to reach the last four at Indian Wells since Goran Ivanisevic in 1996.
■WTA TOUR
REUTERS, INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA
Jelena Jankovic came from 2-4 down in the second set to book her place in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells WTA tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Russian Alisa Kleybanova on Thursday.
The sixth-seeded Serbian ended an error-strewn match lasting 1 hour, 42 minutes on serve at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden when her opponent struck a backhand long.
Jankovic will next meet eighth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur, who beat Spanish left-hander Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).
Second-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki and fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland advanced on Wednesday.
World No. 9 Jankovic was delighted to reach the last four for the first time on this year’s WTA Tour.
“I am just happy to be in the semi-finals again,” she said after pumping her right fist in celebration once the match ended. “Today was not easy.”
Jankovic, a winner of 11 Tour titles, piled up 21 unforced errors in a match of wildly fluctuating quality, while the Russian totaled 40.
“Kleybanova is a really tough opponent,” Jankovic said. “Sometimes I think I have her on the run and then she just comes up with some unbelievable shots. She’s a tricky player and can throw you off your rhythm at times. I just tried to stay focused, to play the best that I can under those circumstances. I was able to get through this match, so I’m really pleased.”
Jankovic, a semi-finalist at Indian Wells in 2008, broke Kleybanova in the third game of the match, before taking the opening set in 50 minutes in early afternoon sunshine.
The second went with serve until the sixth game when Jankovic was broken after hitting a backhand long to trail 2-4.
The former world No. 1 immediately broke back, however, after the 23rd-seeded Russian twice double-faulted and Kleybanova also lost serve in the ninth.
Jankovic, who hit only seven winners in the match compared with 19 from her opponent, made no mistake when serving for a place in the last four, ending the Russian’s unbeaten run of eight matches.
Kleybanova, who made her WTA Tour debut at Indian Wells aged 14 in 2004, won her first title on the circuit in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month.
Stosur, who is projected to break into the top 10 for the first time when the rankings are released on Monday, came from 1-4 down in the second set and squandered her first three match-points before sealing victory.
The match ended in confusing circumstances, however, when Martinez Sanchez, trailing 7-8 in the tiebreak, double-faulted while thinking the score was 8-8 after her first serve had been challenged by Stosur.
“I thought it was then 9-8 and not the finish, so I was disappointed,” the 28th-seeded Spaniard said. “I don’t know what happened, really. I make a mistake.”
In the women’s doubles on Thursday evening, Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik defeated Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Zheng Jie of China in a hard-fought semi-final 1-6, 6-3, 10-4.
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