Nadal to face Tsonga in semis
Tuesday, 22 Jan 2008 14:40
Rafael Nadal into semi-finals at Australian Open and will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Spain's Rafael Nadal eased into the semi-finals of the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory over 24th seed Jarkko Nieminen.
The second seed, who overcame the Finn 7-5 6-3 6-1, will face Andy Murray's first-round conqueror Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who knocked out Russia's Mikhail Youzhny.
Youzhny had no answer for the Frenchman's mixture of power, guile and cunning as Tsonga out-thought and out-muscled the 14th seed in a one-sided 7-5 6-0 7-6 victory.
Nadal enjoyed an equally-straightforward day at the office as Nieminen's resistance was broken after losing the first set late on.
The Spaniard was locked in a tight contest with Nieminen for the majority of the opening exchanges but a break to secure the first set 7-5 opened the floodgates.
Nadal then moved into cruise control, breaking the Finn seemingly at will as he took the second and third sets for the loss of just four games.
Given his good form in Australia so far, Nadal is seemingly the favourite to challenge defending champion Roger Federer in Melbourne.
Although Tsonga has won many friends with his superb play at the Rod Laver Arena and will enjoy plenty of support in Friday's semi-final.