Nadal had no troubles dismissing Feliciano Lopez 6-1 3-0 today in Shanghai. Lopez had problems with his ankle in the first set and retired at 3-0 in the second set after just 50 minutes of play. This is the eighth retirement in the tournament this week.
Though the match was not very competitive, Nadal was able to get in some target practice. The Spaniard really started to feel it with his shots, which will be bad news for is opponent tomorrow. If this continues, he could really light it up tomorrow.
In the first semifinal of the day, somehow Novak Djokovic let Nikolay Davydenko get passed him at 4-6 6-4 7-6(1). To Davydenko’s credit, the Russian has a good all-around game and is always dangerous. The win marks his first final appearance in a Masters tournament or grand slam this year. The world no. 8 will now try for his fourth title and first Masters title of the year.
Should he win tomorrow, he would be the first player outside of the Nadal-Federer-Murray axis to win a Masters title this year. To do so, he will have his work cut out of for him tomorrow against Nadal. The Spaniard leads their head-to-head matchup 4-2.
The current world no. 2 is trying for his fourth Masters title of the year. The final will not be a shoe-in for Nadal since he is still trying to get back to top form, but he should be able to win another title if he continues to improve his shotmaking capabilities as he did today.
(Image: AP)
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2 comments
happy for Rafa, but whats with all the illness and injuries? maybe the atp will wise up and stay out of china; the air is so polluted it would make anyone sick, not to mention the swine and bird flu
The game is so intense now and then the schedule. It is too much.
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