CHENNAI, Jan 5: World number two Rafael Nadal eased into the semi-finals of the 436,000-dollar ATP Chennai Open on Friday, setting up a mouth-watering duel against Spanish compatriot Carlos Moya.
Top-seeded Nadal brushed aside countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2 in a quarter-final that was interrupted by heavy rain for more than three hours after just three games had been played.
The victory kept Nadal on course for his first ever title in a season-opening event ahead of the Australian Open, the latest edition of which starts in Melbourne later this month.
The left-hander finished runners-up in Auckland in 2004 and lost in the semi-finals here last year to eventual champion Xavier Malisse of Belgium.
Moya, a two-time champion in Chennai in 2004 and 2005, easily disposed off unseeded Frenchman Florent Serra 6-3, 6-4 in the first quarter-final played before rains hit the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium.
The other semi-final will feature fourth-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny against promising Croatian youngster Marin Cilic.
Youzhny ended champion Malisse’s seven-match unbeaten streak at Chennai with a 6-4, 6-4 win well past midnight.
Cilic, 19, a former world junior number two, came from behind to oust Dutchman Robin Haase 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a match that was shifted to an outer court because of the late start due to rain.
The third-seeded Moya broke Serra in the fourth game of the first set and again in the opening game of the second to win in an hour and 15 minutes.
Results (x denotes seeding):
Quarter-finals: Carlos Moya (ESP x3) bt Florent Serra (FRA) 6-3, 6-4; Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 6-2; Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x4) bt Xavier Malisse (BEL) 6-4, 6-4; Marin Cilic (CRO) bt Robin Haase (NED) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
MURRAY IN FINAL
DOHA: Andy Murray set himself up as favourite to win the fourth title of his career when he beat top-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Qatar Open final for the second successive time on Friday.
It was also the second time in a row that the 20-year-old Briton has beaten Davydenko here.
Murray now has a final against Stanislas Wawrinka, the unseeded world number 36 from Switzerland who caused a surprise by beating Ivan Ljubicic, the defending champion from Croatia.
Wawrinka’s 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 win was his first in four attempts against his big-serving opponent means that Ljubicic had failed to reach a final in the first week of a new season for the first time in five years.
Ljubicic, the former world number three, has his eye on reclimbing the top 20 and on bigger battles ahead at the Australian Open in ten days time.
By contrast it was one of the most important wins of the career of the 22-year-old who has operated more than any other player in the shadow of Roger Federer and had only previously reach two ATP Tour finals.
Results:
Semi-finals: Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) bt Ivan Ljubicic (CRO x4) 7-6 (7/1), 6-4; Andy Murray (GBR x3) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x1) 6-4, 6-3.—Agencies
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