Federer and Nadal Both Advance to Semis of Quatar Open
January 7, 2011 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have both advanced to the semifinals of the Qatar Open final after both won their respective quarterfinal matches in straight sets on Thursday.
Federer, a two-time champion in Doha, easily dispatched of sixth-seeded Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 6-2 in just 65 min. and will now face third-seeded Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France in the semifinals.Federer has won two of his three previous meetings with the Frenchman. Top-ranked Nadal had a tough time in the first set against Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis before he cruised to another victory, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Nadal will now face the winner of the Nikolay Davydenko and Ivo Karlovic match on Friday.
Nadal broke Gulbis in the fourth game of the first set and, although Gulbis broke back, the 22-year-old Latvian could not maintain his form in the tie-breaker and Nadal won four points in a row to take it.
Federer, who won the Qatar title in 2005 and 2006, improved his win-loss record at this tournament to 21-3. He broke Troicki twice in each set while holding serve easily against a tired-looking opponent who has won just one ATP title.The number two-ranked Federer did not hit an ace during the match, but did not have to save a break point as he kept up his record of not dropping a set in the tournament.
Tsonga outlasted seventh-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (9) to continue his successful comeback from a knee injury that brought his 2010 season to an early end.
