The top three players in the world continued their ominous progress at the ATP Rome Masters clay court tournament on Friday, taking up three of the four semi-final spots.
World No. 1 and top seed Rafael Nadal faced the sternest challenge as he needed 1 hour, 50 minutes to get past Spanish compatriot and sixth seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3 in a match that was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested.
Reigning champion Novak Djokovic will play world No. 2 Roger Federer in the last four after the world No. 3 produced a classy display to defeat Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4.
PHOTO: AFP
Federer overcame stiff initial resistance from German qualifier Mischa Zverev before running out a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 winner.
For the second day in succession, Nadal was embroiled in a physical battle, but once again his greater class told.
Both he and Verdasco created six break-point opportunities, but while he took four of his, his 25-year-old opponent managed only one successful conversion.
“Yesterday, I played really well, but not today. In the second set I made a lot of mistakes,” said the 22-year-old Nadal, who took his winning run on clay to 28 matches. “The first set was OK, but in the second I was a little bit lucky because he missed a lot of points.”
Verdasco hit 20 winners to just six from Nadal, but he hit a woeful 41 unforced errors compared with Nadal’s 20.
Next up for Nadal will be Fernando Gonzalez after the Chilean 12th seed disposed of Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco in three sets 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic needs to retain the title or he will lose his ranking spot to No. 4 Briton Andy Murray, who was knocked out in the second round earlier this week.
The 21-year-old looked every bit championship material against Del Potro, but admitted he would be the underdog when he faces former world No. 1 Federer.
“I look forward to it, it’s going to be great for the people and great for the tournament to see that kind of semi-final,” Djokovic said. “It’s a challenge for both of us. I think we’ve only played twice on clay and he won both times in Monte Carlo [in 2006 and last year]. I think I have a good chance, I have been playing really well lately, so let’s see what happens.”
The Serbian broke Del Potro twice in the first set, but the Argentine proved more stubborn in the second.
However another break at 2-2 when the fifth seed went long with a backhand at 15-40 proved enough and Djokovic served out the match and claimed the win on his fourth match point.
It was Djokovic’s greater class that counted in the end as he hit 20 winners to just eight from the Argentine.
Federer said he would have to improve on his last match against Djokovic — a three-set defeat at the Miami Masters — if he is to reach a third final.
“We haven’t played each other that much on clay, but he [Djokovic] seems to be playing well again,” said the 27-year-old Federer. “He’s come through convincingly against good players, so I hope I can play better against him than I did in Miami.”
Federer has twice lost the final in 2003 and 2006 and he is still looking for his first title of the season.
World No. 76 Zverev impressed in the first set with an attacking and courageous serve and volley game that brought him much success.
The first set went to a tie-break and although Federer lost the first point on serve, he bounced back quickly and took a 4-2 lead with a mini-break of his own from a trademark backhand cross-court pass.
He grew in confidence from there and sealed the tie-break 7-3 with a forehand pass as Zverev continued to crowd the net.
Having broken the German’s resistance, the 13-time Grand Slam winner romped away with the second set, although Zverev saved two match points on his own serve at 1-5.
However, the Swiss master had no problems in serving out the match with a stop backhand volley, two forehand winners and then a service winner.
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