Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal look set to renew their rivalry in the ATP’s season-opening tournament after reaching the Qatar Open semi-finals on Thursday.
The world’s top two players haven’t met since May in the Madrid Open final, but from the beginning of the Doha tournament they have looked headed to a showdown in the final.
The pair is preparing for the Australian Open, where they met in the final last year and Nadal prevailed.
On Thursday, Federer was pushed to three sets for the first time in overcoming Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, while Nadal passed the Doha quarter-finals for the first time in three attempts when Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis retired with a back problem while trailing 6-1, 2-0.
In the semis, Federer will play third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, who outlasted seventh-seeded Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7). Nadal will face fifth-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia, who beat Lukasz Kubot of Poland 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).
“I am playing well,” Nadal said. “There was more confirmation that I am hitting the ball well. I started well and served good. I am in the semifinals without losing a set. I am happy with that.”
Seeking his third Doha title, Federer broke Gulbis twice to take the first set with ease, but then hit two shots long in the 10th game of the second to extend the quarter-final.
The players traded breaks to make it 3-3 in the third, but Federer capitalized on Gulbis’ errors in the 10th game to seal the win.
The 90th-ranked Gulbis hit 13 aces — seven in the second set — and did enough to impress Federer in their first meeting.
“I know that Gulbis is the player with the most potential right now,” Federer said. “Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the ranking he deserves. I took him very seriously. I wasn’t surprised by how he played today.”
■AUCKLAND CLASSIC
AFP, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Rising Belgian tennis star Yanina Wickmayer left her anti-doping woes behind her yesterday, overcoming Israel’s Shahar Peer for a place in the Auckland Classic final.
The WTA event’s third seed had to fight hard for nearly an hour-and-a-half for the 6-4, 7-5 win over Peer, who had been dogged all week by a small group of protesters chanting slogans against Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians.
In the later semi-final, tournament top seed Flavia Pennetta needed less than an hour to beat fellow Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-0 in a lopsided contest.
Another two anti-Israeli protesters were arrested during the opening semi-final yesterday out of a group of about 20 who have been chanting noisily outside the Auckland tennis complex throughout Peer’s matches this week.
But the Israeli world No. 30 again showed grit to shut out the distraction in a fighting performance against Wickmayer, who is ranked 14 places higher.
The Belgian has had her own problems, following her year-long suspension in November by Belgian anti-doping authorities over her alleged failure to disclose in advance her whereabouts at certain times for drugs testing.
A court last month overturned the suspension and the 20-year-old — a US Open semi-finalist last year — has made the most of her return to the Auckland tournament.
“I am very happy,” Wickmayer said afterwards. “I didn’t play my best tennis today. I made a lot of mistakes, especially at the beginning of the second set, but I kept fighting each point and improving, and by the end of the second set, I was playing well.”
A rain delay and windy conditions did not help the players settle into a groove but Wickmayer grabbed the initiative after coming back from a 0-3 deficit in the second set.
Pennetta had a few anxious moments in her thrashing of compatriot and good friend Schiavone, whose desperation to find answers to her opponent’s consistency only produced a long string of mistakes.
The match lasted less than an hour and the outcome started to become clear after Pennetta broke the fourth seed’s serve in the third game of the first set.
Afterwards the world No.12 said she was expecting a very tough final against Wickmayer, who last year won their only previous encounter.
“At the beginning [of the tournament] I didn’t feel so good, but now day by day I’m starting to feel much better,” the 27-year-old said.
“My game is more consistent, so I have to play like this tomorrow,” she said.
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