Madrid – Rafael Nadal regained further control of his revitalised clay-court game with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Italian Simone
Bolelli to power into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters.
The king of clay who is bidding for a record fifth title in the capital, has been working hard in recent months to recover from
injury and a lack of form which has left him with just one minor clay trophy in South America since winning Roland Garros for a ninth time last June.
The third seed will Friday face Grigor Dimitrov, who took advantage of Stan Wawrinka’s poor performance to knock out the Swiss eighth seed 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3.
Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open winner, stood 14-1 after winning the February Rotterdam title, but has then has gone into a nosedive with a 4-5 record since, possibly due in part to personal problems.
“I played a correct match, a little bit better than yesterday,” said Nadal. “I managed to maintain a good level throughout. It was not
been incredible, but an acceptable level.
“I’m happy with today, now I’m going to rest and prepare for tomorrow with joy. I’ll try to just step up again. It’s an important victory, nowadays we have to be happy about everything that I achieve.”
Second seed Andy Murray followed up his early morning win which ended at 3 a.m. with a defeat of Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-0, while 2014 finalist Kei Nishikori beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-3.
Number six Tomas Berdych beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 6-2 as the French 12th seed double-faulted to lose. Spain’s seventh seed David Ferrer won a battle with countryman Fernando Verdasco 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal is aiming to extend his streak of winning at least one European ATP clay court title leading into Roland Garros for the past decade. He now stands 13-3 on his favourite surface so far this season.
American John Isner accounted for Nick Kyrgios less than 24 hours after the Australian shocked top seed Roger Federer in the second round.
The 16th-seeded Isner handed Kyrgios his exit papers 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4 thanks in part to 20 aces.
In the women’s quarter-finals, Maria Sharapova moved closer to a third straight Madrid final on as she beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours.
The defending champion at the Caja Magica also reversed a two-match losing streak against fifth seed Wozniacki. It was Sharapova’s first win in the series in more than two years.
Should Sharapova reach the final by winning against Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat Lucie Safarova 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6
(7-3), the five-time grand slam champion would return to the WTA number two ranking behind Serena Williams.
Sharapova played and won her second consecutive three-set match, but got through slightly quicker after working for nearly three hours in her previous round.
The Russian is also building for the defence of her second Roland Garros title starting in just over a fortnight. Sharapova secured a 5-3 lead with a break of Wozniacki in the third set and promptly served out her 21st win of the season in which she owns a title from January in Brisbane. It marked her first semi-final since Acapulco in February.
“This was an important match for me, and also an important match to see where my level was and how I can withstand that physicality of a match against her,” said Sharapova.
“She’s going to make you work for it and not just give it to you. That’s what happened in the previous two matches that I lost.
“Physically I felt good. I thought that was a really good sign, as I played a three set match and it is my third match in a row. I thought
it was a good tennis and I did quite well.”
Wozniacki, who managed only one clay victory in 2014, has already played a Stuttgart final in 2015.
“It’s definitely a much better position I’m in now than I was last year. I’m happy with that. There is still a lot of positives I can bring with me from this tournament and from last week.
“I’m excited about the way I’m playing. There is definitely a lot of positives I can even improve on.”
Top seed Williams beat Spanish tenth seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-3, marking her 19th straight victory in Madrid and 27th a row this season.
“I definitely didn’t have an easy draw, and coming through so far has been really good,” said Williams. “I didn’t have the greatest
preparation, I would’ve liked to spend so many more hours on the
court just sliding and stuff.”
Williams plays Petra Kvitova, taking a 5-1 record into the contest after the Czech booker her place 7-5, 6-3 over Irna Begu.– DPA-ANA