Rafael Nadal showed no signs of the fever that has been afflicting him this week as he strolled into the Rome Masters semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-3 demolition of Marin Cilic.
Having been totally off colour on Wednesday in a tortured three-set victory over Italian qualifier Paolo Lorenzi, Nadal proved he was back to his best against Cilic.
“I improved a lot,” said Nadal. “I played better. To win a tournament you have to play well every day. I’m in the semi-final now. I’ve played three finals in a row on clay, I won two and lost one and now I’m in the semis again and that’s a very positive thing for me.”
Nadal will face Andy Murray, who reached the semi-final after a bizarre 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory against Florian Mayer. Murray became the first British man since George Hughes in 1932 to get this far in Rome.
“This tournament has a lot of history, it’s always had great fields,” said Murray
Wozniacki sees off Jankovic
In the women’s event, world number one Caroline Wozniacki reached the semi-final of the Rome Masters after a three-set thriller that lasted almost two and a half hours.
The Dane survived a mid-match collapse to edge past twice former winner Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Although the world number one has won a string of titles, 15 in total, a grand slam has so far proved elusive. Wozniacki is preparing for the French Open which gets underway in a little over a week.
Federer stunned by Gasquet
Meanwhile, Roger Federer’s French Open problems piled up when he was dumped out of the Rome Masters by Richard Gasquet.
World number three Federer went down 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) in the third round to Frenchman Gasquet, a worrying setback less just 10 days before the start of Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the season.
“That’s how it goes sometimes, I thought I was playing well and then in the third I wasn’t playing at all, it was a disappointing match for me,” admitted a disappointed Federer.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2011.
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