Tweet
ROME (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal made sure of retaining his world number one status at the French Open after cruising past Croat Marin Cilic 6-1 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters on Friday as Andy Murray also progressed.
Nadal showed no signs of the fever that had brought him to the brink of pulling out on Thursday in a typically clinical display, hammering the world number 23 to set up a semi-final against Richard Gasquet or Tomas Berdych.
Champion for five of the past six years, Nadal raced into a 4-0 lead, breaking Cilic's serve with a ferocious forehand topspinner and backhand crosscourt shot before taking the first set in the Italian sunshine.
The Croat stayed with the Spaniard until the seventh game of the second set when the top seed moved up an extra gear to break twice more, bringing his overall win-loss run in Rome to 30-1 and raising the prospect of another mouthwatering final against Novak Djokovic.
The win meant the Serb now has no chance of overhauling Nadal at the top of the rankings before the French Open starts in just over a week.
World number four Murray earlier became the first British player in the tournament's professional era to reach the final four after coming back from a set down to defeat unseeded German Florian Mayer 1-6 6-1 6-1.
The Scot opened the match in ragged fashion by dropping the first set before storming to victory to book a semi-final against Djokovic, his conqueror in January's Australian Open final, or fifth seed Robin Soderling.
"It's nice to do well here but now I want to go further," Murray, who in six previous visits had never got beyond the third round, told reporters.
"It will be great to play Novak. He's playing really well though I haven't seen him play this week. I won't be able to get away with playing the way I did in the first set."
UNFORCED ERRORS
Murray, who was knocked out in the third round of the Madrid Open last week by unseeded Thomaz Bellucci, got off to the worst possible start with four unforced errors in his opening service game handing Mayer the break.
The clean-hitting German then saved a break point in the fourth game before immediately breaking the Briton again with a breathtaking backhand on the stretch as he raced to take the set 6-1.
"He's a very tricky player. I've never played or practised with him before," said Murray, who talked to himself between points.
"He doesn't say much on court and makes everything look easy, which gives you a strange feeling. I got uptight because I wasn't seeing his game well."
The first three games of the second set went against serve before Murray, struggling with his toss in the midday sun, steeled himself, saving two break points to go 3-1 ahead.
The Scot then broke Mayer twice again, showing his ground court speed and touch with a delicate dropshot followed by a fine backhand crosscourt shot before finishing the set with another double-handed crosscourt winner.
With Mayer labouring, Murray opened up a 3-0 lead in the deciding set, dictating the game with precise shots to the corner as he raced to what turned out to be an easy victory.
(Editing by Mark Meadows; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials
Nadal showed no signs of the fever that had brought him to the brink of pulling out on Thursday in a typically clinical display, hammering the world number 23 to set up a semi-final against Richard Gasquet or Tomas Berdych.
Champion for five of the past six years, Nadal raced into a 4-0 lead, breaking Cilic's serve with a ferocious forehand topspinner and backhand crosscourt shot before taking the first set in the Italian sunshine.
The Croat stayed with the Spaniard until the seventh game of the second set when the top seed moved up an extra gear to break twice more, bringing his overall win-loss run in Rome to 30-1 and raising the prospect of another mouthwatering final against Novak Djokovic.
The win meant the Serb now has no chance of overhauling Nadal at the top of the rankings before the French Open starts in just over a week.
World number four Murray earlier became the first British player in the tournament's professional era to reach the final four after coming back from a set down to defeat unseeded German Florian Mayer 1-6 6-1 6-1.
The Scot opened the match in ragged fashion by dropping the first set before storming to victory to book a semi-final against Djokovic, his conqueror in January's Australian Open final, or fifth seed Robin Soderling.
"It's nice to do well here but now I want to go further," Murray, who in six previous visits had never got beyond the third round, told reporters.
"It will be great to play Novak. He's playing really well though I haven't seen him play this week. I won't be able to get away with playing the way I did in the first set."
UNFORCED ERRORS
Murray, who was knocked out in the third round of the Madrid Open last week by unseeded Thomaz Bellucci, got off to the worst possible start with four unforced errors in his opening service game handing Mayer the break.
The clean-hitting German then saved a break point in the fourth game before immediately breaking the Briton again with a breathtaking backhand on the stretch as he raced to take the set 6-1.
"He's a very tricky player. I've never played or practised with him before," said Murray, who talked to himself between points.
"He doesn't say much on court and makes everything look easy, which gives you a strange feeling. I got uptight because I wasn't seeing his game well."
The first three games of the second set went against serve before Murray, struggling with his toss in the midday sun, steeled himself, saving two break points to go 3-1 ahead.
The Scot then broke Mayer twice again, showing his ground court speed and touch with a delicate dropshot followed by a fine backhand crosscourt shot before finishing the set with another double-handed crosscourt winner.
With Mayer labouring, Murray opened up a 3-0 lead in the deciding set, dictating the game with precise shots to the corner as he raced to what turned out to be an easy victory.
(Editing by Mark Meadows; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials
