Nadal looked troubled by a left hamstring injury which he picked up in a drawn-out second game, and needed medical time-outs to see out the two-hour-33-minute match.
Ferrer will now play Andy Murray in the semi-final. It will be Ferrer’s second Grand Slam semi-final after he reached the last-four at the 2007 US Open.
‘Nadal is a gentlemen’
“It’s not easy because Rafael is a gentleman and he was playing injured and we are friends,” said Ferrer. “He was injured in the first set but I played my game.”
Nadal dug in and played the match in respect for his friend Ferrer and to give him the satisfaction of beating him on the court. His defeat also ended his 25-match Grand Slam winning streak going back to last year’s French Open, four off the record run of 29 held by Rod Laver.
Nadal was struggling throughout the opening set and was broken three times by Ferrer, but moved more freely in the second set when he broke Ferrer’s second service game. But Ferrer secured a triple service break to claim the second set. Ferrer again broke Nadal’s opening service in the third set as the inevitability of defeat loomed to end his dream of his fourth straight Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, last year’s finalist Murray dropped his first set of the year and was made to struggle before overcoming Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov in four sets. The fifth-seed won 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 and needed three hours and six minutes to seal his win.
Clijsters stumbles to a win
Belgian triple Grand Slam-winner Kim Clijsters beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) as she targets a maiden title at Melbourne Park. The tournament favourite and reigning US Open champion will now play second-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-4 for a place in Saturday’s final.
Clijsters overcame a high mistake rate to see off Poland’s Radwanska taking advantage of the Belgian’s 37 unforced errors.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ