The world number two Rafael Nadal on Friday reached his first Italian Open semi-final in Rome. He overcame a bad first set and a hostile crowd to defeat Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
The home crowd logically supported Fognini, Italy’s top player, and Nadal came under pressure when Fognini won five consecutive games to clear a 4-1 deficit and win the first leg.
But Fognini was not able to keep pace with Nadal’s shots on the clay and he eventually fell into fatigue. The Italian asked for a break to bend his left knee as he trailed 3-2 in the third set due to physical discomfort.
The 30-year-old hit one too many unforced errors afterwards as Nadal motored into a 5-2 lead before successfully serving out the game in two hours and fourteen minutes.
“We both played well in the first set, good quality. I missed opportunities, made mistakes with the backhand, he was aggressive. Couple of bad games, then I changed the way, became more aggressive.” Nadal told after the game.
“I should not lose two serves in a row but it happened. The only thing I can do when this happens is accept it and keep working for the next set. It was great, a full crowd, a great atmosphere. I enjoyed it. It was a great day to play tennis a good match.” Nadal added.
The Spaniard already won his 11th titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona during the current clay-court season, but he has lost in the quarter-finals in each of the lat three years in Italy.
Marin Cilic defeated Pablo Carreno Busta to reach semifinals in Rome. (Source:www.yahoo.com)
In the other side, world number five Marin Cilic, easily qualified on Friday for the semi-finals of Italian Open in Rome, beating 10th-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-3.
The Australian Open finalist Cilic got an early break in the opening game of the second set, when his opponent Busta made a forehand error. But Busta hit a forehand long at 3-5 deuce, before Cilic got the double break with his 19th winner on his first game point to extend his win-loss record this year to 18-7.
The Croatian will face on Saturday for a place in the final the winner of the match which will oppose in the evening the Belgian David Goffin and the defending champion, the German Alexander Zverev.
