[新聞]Nadal stays alive in hunt for No.1
Nadal Tops Nieminen to Reach Semifinals
http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/2008news/ao_tuesday2.1.asp
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal became the first player to book his place in the
Australian Open semifinals when he defeated No. 24 seed Jarkko Nieminen 7-5,
6-3, 6-1 Tuesday afternoon. Both players were bidding to reach their first
career semifinal at Melbourne Park.
In the first quarterfinal meeting between lefthanders at the Australian Open
since 1997, Nieminen provided the Spaniard with a stern challenge in the
opening set as he held two set points.
But Nadal, who joined World No. 3 Novak Djokovic as the only two players yet
to drop a set going into the quarterfinals, battled back to keep his perfect
record intact. Whereas the Finn had failed to deliver, Nadal took advantage
of his first break point chance in the next game to go up 6-5. He promptly
served out the first set in 54 minutes, and then converted on five of his
eight break point chances the remainder of the way to secure his berth in the
final four.
With the win, Nadal improved to a 24-3 lifetime record against fellow
lefthanders - four of those victories have now come against Nieminen - as he
became the 15th different lefthander to advance to the Australian Open
semifinals in the Open Era. The last to do so were Petr Korda and and Marcelo
Rios in 1998, who went on to meet in the eighth all left-handed Grand Slam
final of the Open Era.
Nadal is the fourth Spaniard to have reached the Australian Open semifinals,
joining Andres Gimeno, Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero. No Spaniard has
ever won the Australian championship, though Gimeno reached the final in
1969 and Moya in 1997.
"It's a good moment for me - being my first semi-finals on hardcourt at a
Grand Slam," Nadal said afterwards. "I'm happy because it's important to
cross the quarter-finals. I try my best [to reach] the final. If I'm in the
final on Sunday it's going to be a dream for me, to start the season like
this." "I'm very happy about my start here. It's better than I thought."
He is attempting to become the first reigning Roland Garros champion to win
the Australian Open since Andre Agassi in 2000, and will attempt to maintain
his perfect 5-0 record in Grand Slam semifinals (2005-07 Roland Garros,
2006-07 Wimbledon).
The Spaniard still has an opportunity to overtake Roger Federer at No. 1 in
the South African Airways ATP Rankings should he win the title and Federer
loses his quarterfinal match against 12th-seeded American James Blake on
Wednesday. Nadal has been ranked No. 2 for 131 straight weeks.
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