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.

Djokovic, who won his third title of the season last week in Beijing, won 62 percent of his first serve points, hit one ace, and broke his opponents serve on six occasions.

After gaining a break of serve at 3-2 in the first set, Djokovic served out a love game at 5-3. It seemed certain that Djokovic was on his way to capturing his ninth straight victory.

However, Simon was up to the task of prolonging the contest. The Nice native scored an early break of serve in the second set to lead 3-1, taking more risks off his usually conservative ground game.

Djokovic remained diligent in his comeback efforts, but donated an untimely double fault on Simon's first set point to even proceedings at one set all. 

The third set was highlighted by a breathtaking rally which took place at 2-1, Djokovic serving. The 31-shot exchange included back-and-forth moving by both players, ending with a forehand drop shot by the Serb. Raising his hands in triumph, the surge of energy was enough to propel Djokovic to subsequent breaks of serve at 3-2, and 4-3.

The entertaining match which lasted two hours and 23 minutes, ended with a forehand winner by Djokovic on his first match point.

Djokovic, who will return to the No. 3 position in the world on Monday, won his tour-leading 66th match win of season, while advancing to his 13th semifinal of year.

The Serb commented on his win over Simon, and his semifinal opponent Nikolay Davydenko. Djokovic defeated both men in succession to win the Maters Cup in Shanghai last year.

"I hope I will repeat the same success I had at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai last year against him," said Djokovic,

"It's kind of a deja vu, playing with Simon [in the] semis and him in the finals. [He's had] so many years on the tour, Nikolay, and [is a] very aggressive player and takes the ball very early. So I will have to have good tactics tomorrow and just be ready for aggression from the other side of the net and hope I will have patience and I'll be wise enough to win."

Davydenko continued his fine form in Asia, edging No. 13 seed Radek Stepanek, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 earlier on Friday.

The pair's ninth meeting began with Davydenko optimizing his foot speed to pass his aggressive opponent. Stepanek appeared a step slow from his two and 21 minute marathon with Stan Wawrinka on Thursday.

Converting on 3-7 break point opportunities in the first set, Davydenko's seemed to be headed for an easy day on the court.

Stepanek's unorthodox game rebounded in the second set, losing only three points on his first serve (16-19), while breaking in the fifth game of the set to lead 3-2. An ace by Stepanek on his first set point evened the match at one set a piece.

Davydenko restored his order in the third set, recapturing the form he displayed in set one, breaking the Czech at 1-0, and again at 4-1.

With the win, Davydenko improved to a slight 5-4 lead in the pair's head-to-head meetings. The Russian, who is in prime position qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour final in London, won his 47th match of the year, and his ninth in the past three weeks.

"In Asia I think all three weeks I did good result," said Davydenko.

"Play one tournament, quarters, now semis here. It's like every week, get some result. I think it's not so bad."

Djokvovic leads Davydenko 2-1 in career meetings, winning the last two encounters against the Russian.

Djokovic and Davydenko will be first up on Saturday, with Nadal and Lopez battling in the night cap.

Please check back on Saturday for a complete semifinal review from the Shanghai Masters 1000 presented by Rolex.

Cheers.