The Hindu : Sport : Rafael Nadal marches on

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Friday, Jul 20, 2007
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Rafael Nadal marches on

— PHOTO: AP

Rafael Nadal.

STUTTGART: Rafael Nadal overcame a right knee injury to win his 90th match in his last 91 attempts on clay, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the Mercedes Cup quarterfinals.

The second-ranked Spaniard played with a taped knee and leg and was treated courtside after the 37th-ranked German won the first game played between the two.

“It was similar to what happened at Wimbledon,” said the top-seeded Nadal. “I felt this stab of pain and I held myself back at first on the court and then it got better.”

“At the start, I really doubted if I could keep playing,” Nadal said. “I believe I can keep going. Maybe its not 100 percent, but its pretty good.”

Sixth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Diego Hartfield of Argentina 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, while Juan Monaco of Argentina beat Austria’s Stefan Koubek, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Ferrer crashes out

But, defending champion David Ferrer crashed out beaten 7-5, 6-3 in the second round by fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Ferrer was broken in the eighth game of the first set and although he broke back immediately, Verdasco went on to take the first set 7-5 after a huge struggle. Fourth-seed Ferrer was also knocked out of Roland Garros early on by Verdasco in the pair’s only other meeting this year.

Having won the ATP tournament in Bastad, Sweden, this was a bitter blow for Ferrer and Verdasco, 23, will now face seventh seed Juan Ignacio Chela in the third round.

Grim battle

Former world number one Marat Safin battled past Swiss qualifier George Bastl 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the Los Angeles Classic quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Third seed Safin breezed through the opening set with a peerless display after breaking Bastl in the third and fifth games. But the Russian inexplicably lost form in the second set, twice losing his serve for his Swiss opponent to level.

The third set went with serve until Safin broke Bastl in the seventh game and he saved three break points in the next game before serving out for victory.

“It was surprising how well he played in the second set and at the beginning of the third,” Safin, 27, told reporters after clinching victory in two hours. “I thought I would lose this one. I was lucky today actually.”

Important results: At Stuttgart (Mercedes Cup): Second round: Rafael Nadal bt Philip Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Diego Hartfield 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Juan Monaco bt Stefan Koubek 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Fernando Verdasco bt David F errer 7-5, 6-3.

At Amersfoort (Dutch Open): Second round: Carlos Moya bt Mariano Zabaleta 6-2, 6-3; Igor Andreev bt Filippo Volandri 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Steve Darcis bt Gilles Simon 7-6(4), 6-1.

At Los Angeles (Countrywide Classic): Second round: Hyung-taik Lee bt Weslie Moodie 6-2, 3-0 retired.; Michael Berrer bt Ricardo Mello 6-3, 7-5; Nicholas Kiefer bt Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-2; Marat Safin bt George Bastl 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

At Palermo (Palermo Women’s International): Second round: Lourdes Domínguez Lino bt Sorana Cirstea 7-6(5), 6-0.

At Cincinnati (Cincinnati Open): Second round: Anna Chakvetadze bt Anda Perianu 6-4, 6-3; Akiko Morigami bt Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-2; Lilia Osterloh bt Anna Tatishvili 7-5, 6-1. — Agencies

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