Article atp 06-01-07

Nadal, Malisse Set to Meet in Chennai SFs

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Top seed Rafael Nadal stands two wins away from capturing his first title since Roland Garros in June last year, following a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italian veteran Davide Sanguinetti for a place in the Chennai Open semifinals on Friday.

Nadal needed just one hour to beat 34-year-old Sanguinetti, in the pair's first meeting since ATP Masters Series Madrid in 2004. Nadal lost just six points on serve, three coming from double faults.

The 20-year-old Spaniard won five titles last year, tying him for second on the ATP list with James Blake and Nikolay Davydenko behind Roger Federer with 12.

Nadal will next meet Xavier Malisse, the third seed from Belgium, who is making his debut at the Indian tournament (head-to-head). Nadal lost in the first round to Thierry Ascione on his only previous visit in 2004.

Malisse won his fourth career meeting over Fabrice Santoro (pictured) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in one hour and 41 minutes. Having split the first two sets, Malisse was completely dominant in the decider winning 12 of 15 points on serve and 14 of 19 on return. Malisse hit eight aces in total and one double fault.

Malisse had his best year since 2002 last year; ending with a 31-24 match record highlighted by runner-up finishes at Adelaide (l. to Serra) and Delray Beach (l. to Haas). He closed the year with an ATP Ranking of No. 37.

Nadal's compatriot, Carlos Moya, also advanced to the Chennai semifinals with a 6-4, 7-6(6) victory over Ivo Karlovic. The Croat had a chance to send the match to the third set, but failed to convert on set point while serving in the tie-break, allowing fifth seed Moya to close out the victory with three straight points.

Moya, who improved to an event record of 18-2, will attempt to secure his fourth straight trip to the Chennai Open in Saturday's semifinal. He won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, defeating Thai Paradorn Srichaphan both times.

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