Melbourne: World number one Rafael Nadal set up a semi-final showdown with fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco after subduing France's Gilles Simon 6-2 7-5 7-5 at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Simon was easily accounted for in the first set but then refused to go quietly into the warm Melbourne night and he threatened to take a set off the Spaniard for the first time in the tournament.
Nadal, however, was in no mood to hang around longer than necessary and took the match in two hours, 27 minutes. "Today was tough because playing against Simon is always difficult," Nadal told reporters. "I couldn't play exactly my rhythm because ...I think he (likes to play) two metres behind the line and running all the time. "I think I had to change the strategy a little bit, trying to play a little bit more slice, short balls, try to change the rhythm. Play higher, play lower. So that's what I tried today."
Nadal's meeting with Verdasco on Friday will be the first time two Spanish men have met in the semi-finals at the Australian Open since the tournament opened its doors to professionals in 1969.
"(It is) always good to play against another Spanish player in semi-finals of a grand slam," Nadal said. "(It) is very good news for us. One player (is) gonna be in the final.
"Fernando is playing at his best level, I never played against him when he's playing at the level like right now, because I think he never played at this level before, beating (Andy) Murray, beating (2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga."
Nadal romped through the first set in 33 minutes, breaking the sixth seed three times, and looked ready to swat away Simon's challenge. But after dropping his serve in the first game of the second set, Simon broke Nadal in the fourth and then came within a point of becoming the first player to win a set off the top seed at Melbourne Park this year. With Simon holding set point in the 10th game, Nadal served his way out of trouble.
The 22-year-old Mallorcan broke Simon in the next game before serving out for the second set. The third set again proved to be a tense encounter, though Simon continued his pattern of producing unforced errors on crucial points, and Nadal broke him twice to win the match.
"Unfortunately for me, I gave him the break every time in the first game of every set," Simon said. "It was hard after (that) to come back. I didn't manage in the first set. It was better in the second and third. "If you have one chance, you have to take it against him. You can't have three, four, five opportunities. That's too much."
Comments
0 comment