Nadal Pushes Through to Doha Semifinals
Rafael Nadal got a strong test from Russian Andrey Kuznetsov on Thursday, but battled past the 79th ranked Kuznetsov for a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory to reach the semifinals at the Qatar Open in Doha.
After exchanging sets, Nadal broke for a 4-3 advantage in the third set, only to see Kuznetsov with a break of his own to bring the set back on serve and even it at 4-4.
But the Spaniard had one more break in him, and responded immediately with a break to take a 5-4 lead. He consolidated it with a hold and served out the match to move into the final four.
“Kuznetsov played some amazing shots, so it was difficult to control the match,” said Nadal. “It’s true that I missed my serve more than I wanted to, but I really only played game, at 4-3 in the second set. His returns were amazing and his level was very high. Fortunately, I played a great third set, with a lot of intensity.”
Up next for Nadal will be Ukrainian Ilya Marchenko, who ousted Nadal’s compatriot, fourth-seed David Ferrer, in the opening round.
Marchenko beat seventh-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-6(3) to reach the semifinals on Thursday.
World number one Novak Djokovic got off to an auspicious start on Thursday as Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer broke the Serb in his opening service game, but Djokovic rallied to take the opening set 6-3.
Mayer would go up a break in the second set and had a chance to force a deciding third set while serving at 5-4, but Djokovic broke Mayer, and after consolidating it with a hold, broke one more time to advance with a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
“He started better in both the first and second sets,” said Djokovic. “He was going for his shots and he’s a very complete player. The second set was close. It could have gone either way, but I stayed tough and fought through it. It was a good test and I’m glad to get through in straight sets.”
Djokovic will take on third-seed Tomas Berdych in the semifinals. Berdych dismissed Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-2 in the final Doha match on Thursday.
