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TORONTO: Rafael Nadal recovered after a marathon tiebreak setback to
book a semifinal face-off against Andy Murray with a high-tension
triumph over France’s Richard Gasquet on Friday.
Spain’s Wimbledon and French Open champion
overcame 10th-seeded Gasquet 6-7 (12-14), 6-2, 6-1 but required two
hours and 14 minutes to claim his 59th victory of the season.
Nadal roared back after losing the 75-minute
opening set, which Gasquet claimed on his sixth set point after
saving two set points for Nadal.
“It was a very tough first set,” Nadal said.
“I had chances, I was up a break twice.
“But Richard played well to beat me in the
set. In the second I had to stay positive and concentrated.”
Murray, seeded eighth, cut short the title
defense of Serbian Novak Djokovic, the eighth-seeded Scot stunning
the No. 3 by a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) score line.
Murray made quick work of Djokovic—who beat
Roger Federer and Nadal en route to the title last year—wrapping
up an impressive victory in one hour and 44 minutes.
He reversed a run of four straight losses
against Djokovic.
“He’s one of the best players, you can’t
make many errors against him and expect to win,” added Murray, who
saved a set point in the 10th game of the second set.
French giant-killer Gilles Simon will move into
the world top 20 next week after reaching the last four 3-6, 6-2,
6-3 Croatian Marin Cilic.
The 23-year-old from Nice advanced to a meeting
with Nicolas Kiefer, who moved closer to his first final since 2005
by defeating James Blake 6-1, 6-2.
Kiefer, 31, last won a trophy in October 2000,
and missed a year from mid-2006 to 2007 with a wrist injury.
Simon admitted he’s running out of gas after
winning his ninth match in a row, with three service breaks from 15
chances.
Swiss-based Simon improved his season record to
30-16 as he won his 19th match of 2008 on hardcourt.
-- AFP
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