Tennis

Nadal's trail to a drought-breaker easier

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-06 09:07

DOHA: Rafael Nadal, who played mock tennis with Roger Federer on a suspended "magic" carpet, was on Monday given a slightly easier path to the final of the opening tournament of what could be a transformative season.

Though Spain's Australian Open champion looked relaxed and happy while performing with his great rival on Sunday, he has not won a tournament for nearly nine months since struggling with injuries.

However, Nadal starts the 2010 ATP World Tour with a comfortable-looking draw in the Qatar Open against Simone Bolelli, the world No 93 from Italy - and with his projected semifinal opponent suddenly removed.

The fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny fell at the first hurdle against Sergiy Stakhovsky, the former US Open junior finalist, an outcome which may be more helpful to Nadal than it may at first seem, since the Russian demolished him in the opening week of the 2008 season in the Chennai final.

Youzhny let slip two set points, at 9-8 and 10-9 in a monster 24-point tiebreak, before losing 7-6, 6-2 to the dynamically-attacking, multi-lingual Czech-based Ukrainian.

Nadal has made it clear he would like to end his title drought this week, though to do that he will probably have to overcome Federer, who succeeded him as French Open and Wimbledon champion, in Saturday's showdown - on a ground-level court.

Before that Federer could conceivably have a semifinal against a familiar and dangerous foe - Ivo Karlovic, whose victory over him at Cincinnati in 2008 did much to knock him from the world number one spot after a four-year tenure.

The six-foot ten-inch Croatian beat Fabio Fognini, a young Italian pushing towards the top 50, by 6-4, 6-4, Karlovic securing in both sets early breaks of serve which had a huge psychological effect upon the encounter.

AFP