Rafael Nadal reaches Qatar Open semi-finals
The World number one Tennis player Rafael Nadal has made it to the semi-finals of the Qatar open. He was given a tough fight by Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, but Nadal eventually got the better of Gulbis.
This was the fourth encounter between the Latvian player and the Spaniard Nadal. Like all the previous three occasions, Nadal came out victorious for the fourth time as well, winning the match in straight sets 7-6, 6-3.
There were some nervous moments for Nadal in the match. He gave away six break-points to Gulbis but the Latvian was only able to take advantage once. Apart from saving five break-points, Nadal hit four aces in the match and won 74 percent of his service
points. Nadal didn’t commit many unforced errors compared to his opponent Gulbis. He had 11 unforced errors in the match compared to 31 by Gulbis.
Nadal got off to a very good start as he broke early in the match. He raced into a 3-1 lead after he got the break, but then Gulbis bounced back in the match. The 24-year old Latvian broke Nadal’s service to level the game at 4-4 at one stage. Nadal was
0-40 down on his serve next serve, but kept his cool at that stage and played some great shots to get himself out of trouble. He managed to hold his serve and the set went into a tie-break.
Nadal proved to be too good in the tie-break and won the first set 7-6. He didn’t give Gulbis too many opportunities in the second set, and won the fifth service game off Gulbis to take a decisive lead in the set. He maintained his advantage and sealed the
match by winning the set 6-3.
After the victory Nadal said, “For sure I'm very happy to be in the semi-finals. I think today against a very difficult opponent like Gulbis is a great victory for me, and I'm very happy for this victory today.”
He will next face Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-final. Davydenko defeated Ivo Karlovic in the quarter-finals in straight sets. Davydenko has an overall lead of 5-4 over Nadal, and will be looking forward to improving that record.
On facing Davydenko in the semi-final, Nadal stated, “I think he's playing unbelievable, so it's going to be a very difficult match. I'm going to try my best tomorrow, and I know it's going to be a real difficult match. We will see what's going on, what
happens, and hopefully I feel good physically tomorrow.”
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