Rafa Nadal in action at Rogers Cup

In a rare event, the top four seeds all survived their quarterfinal round matches and will knock heads in the semifinals on Saturday in Toronto. Top seed Rafael Nadal led the way, edging past German challenger Phillip Kohlschreiber in three tough sets 3-6,6-3, 7-6(5).

Kohlschreiber broke the first game Nadal served and made the win stick. The German had Nadal on the run and was able to make that second game break stand in the first set. A more determined top seed showed up for the the second and third sets. Nadal began to mix his serves serving wide to both courts and not exclusively delivering to the backhand court. The Spaniard also pressed his way inside the baseline to find better angles for his pinpoint groundstrokes.

Nadl, who is chasing his 19th ATP Masters title, used a variety of spins to counter the German’s stellar drop shots and deep baseline drives. Soon the Spaniard was inside the baseline and the drop shots lost their effectiveness.

When the winner held off two break points in the sixth game of the third set, his confidence rose and he did not face another set point the rest of the way. Nadal captured the critical mini break on the ninth point. When it was his time to serve, he calmly served out the tiebreaker.

Andy Murray was in top form and made fast work of Argentine David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-2. Murray had all the answers for the hot Nalbandian who had been riding an 11 match winning streak entering the match. Murray took early charge of both sets and left Nalbandian wondering what he had just seen. The Scotsman had his renowned return of serve working and Nalbandian never gained an offensive position as the speedy Murray chased down drop shots, cross court blasts and wide serves. As the fourth seed, Murray will face Nadal on Saturday in a key matchup. Murray seems to have ended his mid-season doldrums but has yet to win a tournament this year.

Second seeded Novak Djokovic made fast work of France’s Jeremy Chardy with a solid 6-2, 6-3 triumph that took just one hour and twenty minutes. Djokovic refused to play extended points and badgered Chardy with high risk shots that kept the points short. Djokovic added one of his best service displays of the year to supplement his ground assault on the overmatched Frenchman. Djokovic should be filled with confidence when he meets third seeded Roger Federer today.

For all those who thought the ageless Federer was finished on Friday, don’t count the popular Federer out just yet. Uncharacteristically seeded at number three, the Swiss looked like Czech sensation Tomas Berdych had solved the Federer mystique again. But, in the blink of an eye, Roger turned the tables
on Tomas and escaped with a brave 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(5) victory.

In his first match since retaining coach Paul Annacone, Federer showed a much more unpredictable game. Federer opened the match in an aggressive style, often moving forward to take the return on the rise and send stinging backhands cross court and down the line. The strategy seemed to unnerve the Czech as Roger took command of the first set by winning 23 first service points and not facing a break point in the set.

In the second set, Forger had a 0-30 opportunity at 5-5 but could not convert. The Swiss then provided two loose double faults to hand Berdych the set and the momentum.

Federer was more aggressive than usual and found his legs late in the third set when he drove a forehand winner and then earned a Berdych misfire to claim the tiebreaker and the match. This should be a great day of tennis in Toronto with Nadal favored over Murray and Djokovic favored over Federer.

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