Article tennismagazine 05-01-07

Malisse beats Santoro, will meet Nadal in semifinal

CHENNAI, India (AP) -Third-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium overcame a jittery second set to defeat Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 Friday and set up a semifinal match against Rafael Nadal at the Chennai Open.

Nadal, ranked No. 2, beat Davide Sanguinetti 6-3, 6-2 in another quarterfinal match.

Malisse said he was looking forward to playing Nadal on the hardcourt surface. Nadal has not won a title since his triumph in the French Open last year.

``I've only played him once and lost,'' said Malisse, ranked 37th. ``That was on clay and everybody loses of Nadal on clay, but it should be a good match on the hard surface here.''

Malisse said his match against the 52nd-ranked Santoro, who begins his 19th year on the ATP Tour, was his best so far.

``Everyone will be looking at the few errors, but they occurred because I played more aggressively,'' he said.

Santoro was presented a plaque for his sportsmanship by former Indian Davis Cup captain Vijay Amritraj.

``For me tennis isn't about winning, but for presenting a good image of yourself and your country to the world,'' Santoro said. ``I think I've still got a lot of tennis in me.''

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