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Nadal and Coria advance to semi-finals
Beijing, 16 September 2005 - Rafael Nadal and Guillermo Coria did double duty Friday as both won back-to-back matches to reach the semi-finals of the China Open.
Top-seeded Spaniard Nadal followed up a rain-delayed second-round win over American Justin Gimelstob 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 with night-time quarter-final victory. A few hours later, the reigning French Open champion beat Peter Wessels of the Netherlands 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to conclude his long day on court.
The Spaniard began with a break in the first game but ended up taking the first set in a tiebreaker before seizing control in the second.
Coria, seeded second, was equally efficient, spending just 53 minutes in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Japan’s Toshihide Matsui. On Saturday, he will square off against hard-court enthusiast and fourth seed Thomas Johansson.
The Swede earlier put out Nadal’s mentor and fellow Mallorcan Carlos Moya 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
Coria’s second Friday match ended up as a fightback over seventh-seeded 2004 finalist Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. The Russian suffered a recurrence of recent back problem, receiving treatment on court in the second set.
Nadal improved to 70-10 on the season as he competes for the first time in China.
He will bid for Sunday’s final as he faces Spanish compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world No. 1 who upset third seeded David Nalbandian of 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in their quarter-final.
“I played four hours today and I’m a bit tired,” admitted Nadal. “I played badly in the first match and was happy to improve in the second. But I need to keep that up.”
Ferrero, now ranked 23rd after starting the year on a distant 90th, had lost to the Argentine twice before.
Ferrero notched 14 winners and eight unforced errors in a victory completed in just under two hours. “I know that I’ve lost to him, but today I think we played very good match.
“I can’t compare this season with 2004,” said the 25-year-old who dealt with chicken pox as well as assorted injuries last year. ”I didn’t play much in seven months. But of course I’m hoping to return to the top 10.”
Tournament director Ekkehard Rathgeber is expecting some semi-final fireworks on Saturday: “Coria and Johansson have met only once before, back in 2002, and on that occasion Johansson took the match in straight sets. Both are in good form so things could heat up in the first semifinal in the afternoon.
“Nadal and Ferrero have only ever met on clay, and Nadal has won all three matches,” added Rathgeber, who is also Chief Operating Officer of TOM Group Limited, an associate of Hutchison Whampoa Limited. “But Ferrero is on fire after beating Nalbandian, a man he had never before defeated until this China Open.”
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Released on behalf of TOM Group and the China Open by Two Up Front - Asia’s sports PR specialists.