(Photo by Victor Fraile/Getty Images)
Shanghai Masters 1000—China
Top seed Rafael Nadal survived a barrage of potent serves and groundstrokes to overcome an injured Ivan Ljubicic, 3-6, 6-3, ret. on Friday. The Spaniard found himself down a break of serve at 2-1 in first set to his net rushing opponent. Ljubicic, who fought off Nadal's lone break point chance in the first set, won 76 percent of his first serve points, and hit six aces.
It appeared as though Nadal was heading to another defeat at the hands of a taller, stronger opponent. In recent weeks, the Mallorcan had been ousted by Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open, and Marin Cilic in Beijing.
The third game of the second set became the pivotal point of one hour and 36 minute encounter. Ljubicic raced to a 0-40 lead on Nadal's serve, only to squander two additional break point opportunities in the game. After Nadal held serve to tie the set at 2-2, he gained full control, winning 70 percent of his second serve points, while following up his delivery with precision crosscourt backhands.
Ljubicic began to wilt under the mental and physical pressure of Nadal's exerting game. The Croat tweaked his left hip in the eighth game of the set, while attempting to combat a crosscourt forehand by Nadal.
A medical timeout was called by Ljubicic at 5-3, Nadal serving. The assessment revealed the beginning of the end for the 30-year-old Monte Carlo resident.
Ljubicic gave himself a look at breaking Nadal's serve in the final game of the match, vaporizing numerous forehands, and backhands to great effect. However, the Spaniard's defensive abilities kicked into over drive, ending the great run of the Ljubicic.
Although the pair's six encounter was short lived, the Qi Zhong Tennis Center was graced with ample opportunity to witness the full talents of both competitors.
With the win, Nadal improved to 5-1 in head-to-head meetings against Ljubicic, while advancing to his 11th ATP World Tour semifinal of the season.
Ljubicic fell to 26-20 on the year, defeating Julien Benneteau, Fernando Verdasco, and Gael Monfils en route to his seventh quarterfinal finish of 2009. The former world No. 8 will now determine whether or not he will be able to participate in the upcoming European swing.
Ljubicic's retirement on Friday became the eighth of the week in Shanghai, adding to the long list of causalities in China.
Nadal, who is still in contention of capturing the 16th ATP Masters 1000 title of his career, next faces countryman Feliciano Lopez in the final four.
The streaking Spaniard poured in his best performance of the season, defeating No. 8 seed Robin Soderling, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in one hour and 43 minutes.
Lopez was able to utilize his historically weak backhand to great effect against Soderling. The skidding shot allowed the 28-year-old Madrid native to approach the net at will, creating routine put away volleys.
The first set featured each man breaking serve on one occasion, with an inevitable tiebreak on the horizon. After capturing an early mini-break lead to go up 2-0, Lopez capped off his solid set off with his fourth ace.
Lopez continued his momentum in the second set, immediately breaking Soderling to lead 2-0. A visibly disgusted Swede began screaming to his corner, which consisted of his coach, Magnus Norman, and his girlfriend.
After hitting a backhand volley winner on match point, Lopez advanced to his first semifinal of the season, capturing his 13th win of year. The Spaniard raised his hands in disbelief to gesture to highlight of his season.
Before his great run in Shanghai, Lopez had encountered a dreadful spell of losing eight consecutive tour matches. Lopez is currently ranked 41 in world, falling 11 places from the start of the season.
"Feli," as he known by his tour followers had this to say after his victory.
“I just tried to play my best tennis and to play my best weapons as best as I can,” he said. “It’s my first semis, and I’m so happy.”
Lopez, who will be contesting his first ever Masters 1000 semifinal on Saturday, will take a 4-1 head-to-head deficit against his higher ranked countryman.
Nadal alluded to the potential danger his Davis Cup teammate could bring forward.
“All the points are going to be very important. I have to be very concentrated with my serve all the time, and later we will see what's happened," assessed Nadal.
"I try to play aggressive when I have the chances on the return and hope, wait a little bit when he has to play a little bit more with second serves.”
Elsewhere, No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic overcame a stern challenge from No. 8 seed Gilles Simon, defeating the speedy Frenchman 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
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