The Hindu : Sport : Nadal sets Masters semifinal date with Federer

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Saturday, Nov 18, 2006
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Nadal sets Masters semifinal date with Federer

SHANGHAI: Rafael Nadal came from a set down against Nikolay Davydenko on Friday to set up an eye-catching Masters Cup semifinal with fierce rival Roger Federer.

The muscular World No. 2 overcame a slow start and a left knee problem to break the Russian in the second and third sets, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 43 minutes.

Nadal became the last player to qualify for the last four with James Blake already assured of top spot in the Gold Group. Blake will meet defending champion David Nalbandian in the semifinals.

Struggle

In his first meeting with Davydenko, Nadal struggled with his serve and found his baseline game neutralised by the Russian in a first set that clocked in at 66 minutes. A nervy double fault at 5-6 cost him the set.

The Spaniard hit back immediately, converting his second break point of the next game and levelling the match when Davydenko sent a forehand wide on set point. Nadal appeared in trouble after the second game of the decider when he called for the personal trainer and had his left leg strapped below the knee.

But he rallied to conjure three break points at 3-3, converting the third when he forced Davydenko wide and the Russian netted with a forehand. He faced his first break point of the set when serving for the match but thundered two service winners before winning his first match point when Davydenko fired wide.

Davydenko admitted that he was tired during the match after a globe-trotting year in which he had played 32 tournaments and reached a career-high third ranking. ``At the start of the third set I was moving well, I was hitting balls well and I was feeling great,'' he said.

``But then there were some long rallies because Nadal tried to play baseline and top-spin and he was running a lot. Slowly I started feeling tired and then I started making some mistakes.''

But the Russian did not give Nadal much chance against Federer, the World No. 1 he beat four times in the first half of the season.

Domination

The Spaniard dominated early in the year, beating Federer in four finals on way to five titles including his second consecutive French Open crown. But his form slumped after he lost the Wimbledon final to the Swiss and he did not make it past the quarterfinals in any of his six regular-season events since.

He is making his Masters Cup debut this year after missing the 2005 tournament with a foot injury.

The results:

Gold group: Singles: Rafael Nadal bt Nikolay Davydenko 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; Tommy Robredo bt James Blake 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

Doubles: Mark Knowles & Daniel Nestor bt Mariusz Fyrstenberg & Marcin Matkowski 6-3, 6-3; Jonas Bjorkman & Max Mirnyi bt Fabrice Santoro & Nenad Zimonjic 6-3, 7-6(7). — Agencies

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