Ivan Ljubicic of croatia

It is hard to tell if 31-year old Ivan Ljubicic is celebrating his birthday on Friday or celebrating a well-deserved day off as he prepares for his semifinal match with Spanish sharp shooter Rafa Nadal on Saturday. Nadal, fresh off a three set win over John Isner, withstood a late charge by the 19th seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-6 (4) to win his 20th of 21 matches at Indian Wells. The defending champion looks healthy and fleet afoot.

Ljubicic stayed the course after his fourth round straight set upset of second seeded Novak Djokovic against Argentine Juan Monaco on Thursday. Ljubicic needed to rally after losing the first set 4-6. Once the Croatian found his serve, he had too much game for Monaco and cruised through the final two sets 6-2, 6-1.

Ljubicic has a solid history at Indian Wells, having reached the quarters three of the past five years. His semifinal appearance against the heavily favored Nadal will be his sixth semifinal tour appearance. His 3-2 record is admirable and the Croatian has played well of late.

Ljubicic likes the dessert heat and feels the courts are playing slow enough to set up a good return. Of course, he will be playing one of the game’s greatest returners in the third seeded Nadal.

The Nadal – Berdych match was extremely competitive. Both players had points of momentum in the two hour 11 minute battle. Berdych had won three of their previous five matches and pressed the Spaniard at every turn.

Berdych fought hard to square the first set at 4-4. Nadal broke back at love and then served out the set. In the second set tiebreaker, Berdych jumped ahead to grab a quick lead only to be broken back as Rafa ran off the final 3 points.

Nadal will be favored in the semis but the Spaniard has not won a tour event in more than ten months. In 2010, he lost to Davydenko in the Doha finals and in the quarters to Murray at the Australian Open.

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