Nadal reaches last four in Rome Masters
Spaniard advances to semi-finals, Svitolina knocks out Kerber in women’s quarter-finals
>> ROME: Rafael Nadal continued his clay domination yesterday, rallying from a set down to reach the Rome Masters semi-finals with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Fabio Fognini.
The world No.2 needs to lift an eighth career title at the Foro Italico tomorrow to return to the top of the ATP rankings after losing that position to Roger Federer last week.
The crowd at the Foro Italico was decidedly behind Fognini, Italy’s top player, and Nadal was under pressure when Fognini won five straight games to cancel out a 4-1 deficit and win the opening set.
But Fognini couldn’t keep up with Nadal’s consistency and heavy topspin on the red clay court and eventually was physically worn down.
Fognini had tape applied under his left knee while trailing 3-2 in the third set due to an apparent physical problem. For a spot in the final, Nadal will play four-time Rome champion Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori.
“I’m not used to playing so early,” Nadal said of his midday start. “But I’m very happy to be in the semi-finals.
“This was a very important win for me today.”
Nadal also beat Fognini in Rome in 2013 in their first ever meeting.
This was his 11th victory in 14 meetings with the 21st-ranked Italian, and sixth in a row.
Croatian fourth seed Marin Cilic also made it to the last four after beating 10th seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-3.
In the women’s quarter-finals, defending champion Elina Svitolina defeated former No.1 Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4.
The Ukrainian dropped serve in the sixth game of the opening set but then broke her opponent twice to win the first set on the way to her sixth straight victory over the German, who dropped to 5-8 in the series.
Svitolina next faces the winner of the match between Estonian Anett Kontaveit and second seed Caroline Wozniacki.
SECOND ROOFED STADIUM
The old No.1 stadium at the US Open is about to be replaced by a better-thanever No.2.
Louis Armstrong Stadium hosted two decades of championship tennis, memorable matches on the court that often hid its inadequacies off it.
Rain would send spectators scattering, fleeing onto crowded concourses and towards cramped restrooms. Not anymore.
When the new Armstrong opens for play in August at the US Open’s 50th anniversary, complete for the first time with both a day and night session, the US Tennis Association believes its second stadium will be second to none.
Topped by a retractable roof, it’s the final stage of a five-year, US$600 million project that remade the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, all without ever interfering with the tournament.
And as USTA officials showed off the progress of the stadium on Thursday under rainy skies that were forecast to last into the weekend, it was comforting to know they now had two places where they could keep the action going if faced with the same weather in late summer.
“Now with two stadiums with roofs, you know that if you’ve got a ticket to the US Open, you’re going to see tennis, regardless of the weather conditions,” USTA President Katrina Adams said.