Davydenko to face Nadal in Barcelona semis
Sunday, 26 April 2009
BARCELONA, Apr 25 (AP): Third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko rallied for a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-2 victory over Radek Stepanek Friday to reach a Barcelona Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal.
Fourth-seeded David Ferrer and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile will meet in the other semifinal.
Davydenko recovered from mistakes early in the first set, but wasted three set points as Stepanek used crafty net play to frustrate to force the tiebreaker. Stepanek then hit one of his seven aces to secure the first set.
But the Czech player then crumbled behind a slew of unforced errors, and Davydenko broke to take a 3-2 lead and then used another break to clinch the second set.
Davydenko used strong returns to break twice more in the third to set up a meeting with the top-ranked Nadal.
Nadal, who has a 3-2 record against Davydenko and 2-0 on clay, reached the semifinals without having to play Friday, after quarterfinal opponent David Nalbandian withdrew on Thursday with a right hip injury.
The Spaniard is vying to follow up his fifth straight Monte Carlo Masters trophy with a fifth straight title at Barcelona.
Fourth-seeded David Ferrer and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile will meet in the other semifinal.
Davydenko recovered from mistakes early in the first set, but wasted three set points as Stepanek used crafty net play to frustrate to force the tiebreaker. Stepanek then hit one of his seven aces to secure the first set.
But the Czech player then crumbled behind a slew of unforced errors, and Davydenko broke to take a 3-2 lead and then used another break to clinch the second set.
Davydenko used strong returns to break twice more in the third to set up a meeting with the top-ranked Nadal.
Nadal, who has a 3-2 record against Davydenko and 2-0 on clay, reached the semifinals without having to play Friday, after quarterfinal opponent David Nalbandian withdrew on Thursday with a right hip injury.
The Spaniard is vying to follow up his fifth straight Monte Carlo Masters trophy with a fifth straight title at Barcelona.