The win against Dimitrov was Nadal’s 45th successive victory at the first big claycourt event of the season. PHOTO: AFP
Nadal, who made an unusual number of errors and looked uncomfortable throughout against his 21-year-old opponent, slowly ground him down and fired an ace to clinch his 45th successive victory at the first big claycourt event of the season.
The Spaniard now has a 47-1 win-loss record at the glamorous venue and will next face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who beat Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last-four for the first time.
The straight-laced crowd, for once reluctant to support Nadal with Dimitrov threatening to pull off a shock win, stood up to cheer the 34th-ranked Bulgarian as he left the court after a thrilling performance.
Nadal had his share of applause after setting up a semi-final against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who opened the chilly grey day by the Mediterranean with a powerful 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Wawrinka.
Wawrinka saved four match points – three on his own serve in the penultimate game – before the Frenchman bulldozed to victory in just over two hours on the clay.
Tsonga ended with his sixth ace in a match where he fended off 10 Wawrinka break points from 12 chances for the Swiss.
"Stan made me work for this win as he saved all those match points," said Tsonga. "I'm just glad to get to the semi-finals."
Wawrinka swept the first set in 42 minutes but found his progress slowed in the second as the burly Tsonga began to discover his deadly range.
The French seed broke twice in the second to level at a set apiece.
He went up a break in the third 4-3 but had to battle through Wawrinka's last stand before winning on his fourth match point.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2013.
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