Post by getta on Aug 19, 2010 19:21:29 GMT -5
www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2010/08/33/Cincinnati-Thursday-Nadal-Saves-Match-Point.aspx
Nadal Saves Match Point To Reach QFs; Baghdatis Beats Berdych
Cincinnati, U.S.A.
by ATP Staff | 19.08.2010
© Getty Images
Marcos Baghdatis will attempt
to defeat Rafael Nadal for the
first time.
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal fought off a match point to defeat unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-2 in third-round action Wednesday afternoon at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati.
The 32nd-ranked Benneteau assumed the lead with a late break in the opening set, and fired two straight aces to set up match point at 6-5 in the second set tie-break, but was unable to complete the upset as Nadal stepped up to win the next three points.
"He played like No. 1 in the world," Benneteau said of his inability to win the match in the tie-break. "Two first serve, two winners with his forehand, and I did not have an opportunity in the point, in the rally, to put him [under] pressure. I have no regrets on these points."
With Benneteau struggling with cramps at the beginning of the third set, Nadal quickly raced out to a double-break lead as the Frenchman managed to win just two points in his first two service games. Benneteau recovered one break of serve, but it would not prove enough as Nadal broke him again before closing out the hard-fought win in two hours and 48 minutes.
"I think he played great; he played very good tennis," said Nadal. "Especially in the beginning I wasn't playing bad; I was playing not perfect, but well. He was playing really well, very aggressive, very good shots from his backhand, even if he arrive in not very good position. His serve works very well. [It] was a very difficult match."
It marked the first time this year that Nadal had prevailed after saving match point. He accomplished the feat three times last season, against David Nalbandian in the Indian Wells quarter-finals (5 M.P.), Novak Djokovic in the Madrid semi-finals (3 M.P.) and Nicolas Almagro in the fourth round at Paris-Bercy (5 M.P.).
The top seed will meet Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals after the resurgent Cypriot knocked out World No. 7 Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4 in just over two hours. Baghdatis fired 10 aces and converted on two of his 12 break points.
"To beat Berdych he must be playing really well," said Nadal, who has defeated Baghdatis in their five previous meetings. "I have to play aggressive, I have to serve well, and return better than today. And that's it. Just wait that he doesn't have his inspiration there, and just try to play my best tennis."
Nadal has reached the semi-finals in this season’s first six ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournaments, and also reached the semi-finals the past two years in Cincinnati. This is the only Masters 1000 event where the 24-year-old Spaniard has not reached the final.
The 25-year-old Baghdatis went winless during the grass-court swing, but has regained his form on North American hard courts, highlighted by a runner-up finish to Argentine David Nalbandian in Washington, D.C. He won his fourth ATP World Tour title this past January in Sydney.
Nadal Saves Match Point To Reach QFs; Baghdatis Beats Berdych
Cincinnati, U.S.A.
by ATP Staff | 19.08.2010
© Getty Images
Marcos Baghdatis will attempt
to defeat Rafael Nadal for the
first time.
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal fought off a match point to defeat unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-2 in third-round action Wednesday afternoon at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati.
The 32nd-ranked Benneteau assumed the lead with a late break in the opening set, and fired two straight aces to set up match point at 6-5 in the second set tie-break, but was unable to complete the upset as Nadal stepped up to win the next three points.
"He played like No. 1 in the world," Benneteau said of his inability to win the match in the tie-break. "Two first serve, two winners with his forehand, and I did not have an opportunity in the point, in the rally, to put him [under] pressure. I have no regrets on these points."
With Benneteau struggling with cramps at the beginning of the third set, Nadal quickly raced out to a double-break lead as the Frenchman managed to win just two points in his first two service games. Benneteau recovered one break of serve, but it would not prove enough as Nadal broke him again before closing out the hard-fought win in two hours and 48 minutes.
"I think he played great; he played very good tennis," said Nadal. "Especially in the beginning I wasn't playing bad; I was playing not perfect, but well. He was playing really well, very aggressive, very good shots from his backhand, even if he arrive in not very good position. His serve works very well. [It] was a very difficult match."
It marked the first time this year that Nadal had prevailed after saving match point. He accomplished the feat three times last season, against David Nalbandian in the Indian Wells quarter-finals (5 M.P.), Novak Djokovic in the Madrid semi-finals (3 M.P.) and Nicolas Almagro in the fourth round at Paris-Bercy (5 M.P.).
The top seed will meet Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals after the resurgent Cypriot knocked out World No. 7 Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4 in just over two hours. Baghdatis fired 10 aces and converted on two of his 12 break points.
"To beat Berdych he must be playing really well," said Nadal, who has defeated Baghdatis in their five previous meetings. "I have to play aggressive, I have to serve well, and return better than today. And that's it. Just wait that he doesn't have his inspiration there, and just try to play my best tennis."
Nadal has reached the semi-finals in this season’s first six ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournaments, and also reached the semi-finals the past two years in Cincinnati. This is the only Masters 1000 event where the 24-year-old Spaniard has not reached the final.
The 25-year-old Baghdatis went winless during the grass-court swing, but has regained his form on North American hard courts, highlighted by a runner-up finish to Argentine David Nalbandian in Washington, D.C. He won his fourth ATP World Tour title this past January in Sydney.