Nadal fights off G Dimitrov to reach Open semi

January 23, 2014 00:00:00

MELBOURNE: Spain\'s Rafael Nadal shouts as he celebrates after victory in his men\'s singles match against Bulgaria\'s Grigor Dimitrov on day ten of the 2014 Australian Open Tennis Tournament here Wednesday. — AFP Photo

MELBOURNE, Jan 22 (AFP): World number one Rafael Nadal fought off a big challenge from rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open Wednesday.

Nadal got home 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 in three hours 37 minutes and now will play either Andy Murray or Roger Federer for a place in Sunday's final.

For long passages of the quarter-final on Rod Laver Arena, Nadal was struggling to put away the 22nd-seeded Dimitrov, and he needed a bit of luck at crucial stages to go through.

"I was so lucky, after saving set points in the third set," he said. "He just missed an easy forehand... Today was for me, so I'm so happy."

Nadal was playing after three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic was upset by Stanislas Wawrinka late Tuesday, and there were times when he looked like becoming another casualty.