The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Nadal overcomes Karlovic

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Nadal overcomes Karlovic

London: Rafael Nadal overcame Ivo Karlovic’s powerful serve to reach the Queen’s Club semifinals with a 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win on Friday.

Nadal could not break the towering Croat a single time during the match, and didn’t even bother reaching for many of the 35 aces hit by Karlovic. Nadal had just two break points — while not conceding any — which were saved by Karlovic at 3-3 in the first set and 2-2 in the third.

A double-fault by Nadal in the first tie-breaker was all Karlovic needed, as he closed out the set with his 15th ace. Nadal bounced back to win the second, and Karlovic then netted a backhand volley in the third tie-breaker to give the French Open champion a decisive 5-3 lead.

Bhupathi-Bopanna advances

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reached the men’s doubles quarterfinals without playing a single match after the Indian Davis Cuppers got a walkover in the second round.

The results: At London: ATP Artois Championships: Quarterfinals: Rafael Nadal bt Ivo Karlovic 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(4); Andy Roddick bt Andy Murray (w.o.).

At Halle: ATP Gerry Weber Open: Quarterfinals: Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Robin Soderling 6-4 7-6(4); Nicolas Kiefer bt Michael Llodra 4-0 (retd.); Roger Federer bt Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4.

At Warsaw: ATP Orange Warsaw Open: Quarterfinals: Juan Monaco bt Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-3; Fabio Fognini bt Guillermo Canas 7-5, 7-5.

At Birmingham: WTA DFS Classic: Singles: Quarterfinals: Bethanie Mattek bt Nicole Vaidisova 6-3, 6-0; Yanina Wickmayer bt Melanie South 6-4, 6-3. At Barcelona: WTA Barcelona- Kia Championship: Singles: Quarterfinals: María José Martínez Sánchez bt Lucie Safarova 6-2, 4-1 (retd.); Nuria Llagostera Vives bt Sara Errani 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro bt Ekaterina Ivanova 6-2, 6-1.

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