Rafael Nadal beat Leonardo Mayer in straight sets on Thursday to progress to the semi-finals of the Mexican Open, setting up a meeting with Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro.
Second seed Nadal won 6-1, 7-5 in 1 hour, 41 minutes as the former world No. 1 continued his comeback from a long-term knee injury and builds toward the French Open.
Third seed Almagro also had a straight-sets win, defeating Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-4.
Photo: Reuters
Top seed David Ferrer remained on track for a fourth straight Mexican Open title by breezing past Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-1, notching his 18th consecutive win in the tournament.
Ferrer’s semi-final opponent was Italy’s Fabio Fognini, who beat Santiago Giraldo 7-5, 6-4.
“So far I’ve played in three semi-finals and that’s fantastic news, and it’s even better because my three best games have been here,” Nadal said. “Now I feel like I have nothing to lose no matter what happens tomorrow. Either I will go on to play the final or I will go happy to play in another tournament knowing that the knee is responding better.”
Nadal has good reason to be confident of beating Almagro as he boasts an 8-0 record against his fellow Spaniard, yet the former No.1 said his long absence from the tour must be taken into account.
“I don’t feel as the favorite for tomorrow, it’s been seven months without competing and I will be facing a great clay player,” Nadal said. “I will do my best to play a great match to reach the final, it’s that clear.”
On Tuesday, Nadal said he may pull out of next week’s Indian Wells Masters in California to spare his fragile knees from the hard courts and save himself for Europe.
He did not say whether he would also compete in the Key Biscayne Masters, where he has reached the final three times and which follows Indian Wells.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set