TENNIS Master 1000 Madrid – World Number 1 and Madrid defending champion Rafael Nadal cruised to a 6-4 6-2 to qualify for the semifinals in the Madrid Mutua Open. The King of Clay showed improving form compared to his previous appearances on clay where he did not get through in two consecutive clay tournaments where he had previously won a total of 16 trophies (8 in Monte-Carlo and 8 in Barcelona). Diego Sampaolo
Interviews, results, order of play and draws of the Mutua Madrid Open
The eagerly-anticipated quarter final between Rafa Nadal and Tomas Berdych did not really fulfilled the expectations. Nadal won easily against Juan Monaco and Jarkko Nieminen. Berdych faced a much tougher test yesterday when he fought back from a set down to edge Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.
Berdych, who won for the last time against Nadal in Madrid in 2006 when the tournament was held indoors before 16 consecutive defeats and reached the final in the Magic Box in 2012, posed a threat only in the first set before Nadal took full control of the match.
In the first set Berdych held serve in the opening game for1-0. Berdych earned a break point in the second game but Nadal forced the game to deuce with an ace and managed to save the break point. In the third game Berdych held serve to 15 to take a 2-1 lead. In the fifth game Berdych won three consecutive games to win the game to 30 for 3-2. In the sixth game Nadal rallied from 0-30 to take the lead 40-30 but he hit his forehand into the net. Berdych sent a forehand wide to drop the game for 3-3.
At 3-3 Nadal earned two break points after a long rally. Berdych saved the first break point for 40-30 but Nadal converted the first break point chance to take the edge for 4-3. Nadal backed it up holding his serve to pull away to 5-3. Berdych won the next game but Nadal went up 40-0 to earn three set points. The Spaniard held his serve to love to wrap up the first set with 6-4. Nadal played his best tennis of the year with a solid percentage on serve
Berdych won the first game of the second set. Nadal broke serve for the second time in the match with a forehand winner to draw level to 1-1 before rallying from 0-30 in the third game with four consecutive points to break in the third game for 2-1 with a down-the-line forehand.
From then on the match was played on Nadal’s serve and it turned out a one-sided match. He backed up the break to 15 to pull away to 3-1. Nadal went up 40-30 on Berdych’s serve but the Czech player saved a break point in the fifth game to keep his hopes alive to stay in the match.
However, Nadal held his serve to 30 to go up 4-2 before getting a second break of serve in the seventh game to extend his lead to 5-2. Nadal earned two match points at 40-15 and closed out at the first opportunity with his third ace of the match.
It was certainly the best match on clay for Nadal this year. Nadal has reached his fourth semifinal in five appearances in Madrid. He will face Roberto Bautista Agut who beat Barcelona finalist Santiago Giraldo 6-3 6-4
Nadal scored his 17th win over Berdych in 21 head-to-head matches and his 304th win on clay (with just 26 defeats). The Spaniard will be looking to clinch his fourth Madrid title after 2005, 2010 and 2013. He has already won 43 trophies on clay.
“It was a match with a lot of intensity. It was my toughest match so far in the tournament. I knew I had to go a step forward. Talking about my level, I didi t pretty well. I managed to save a break point at the beginning of the match and I also saved another Love-30. I think that I played well in the key moments. To make it to the semifinals for the first time in the clay season here in Madrid is great news for me”, said Nadal