Rafael Nadal has booked his place in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open with a three-sets victory over fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.
Both players held their serves in the early exchanges, but it was Ferrer who began to get on top, breaking Nadal to go 4-1 up.
The fifth seed fought back with a break of his own to level the set at 4-4, before Ferrer produced another break to eventually take it 6-4.
In an entertaining second set, Nadal and Ferrer broke serve three times to make the score 5-5, before both players held to take the set into a tie-break.
Nadal broke Ferrer twice in the tie-break before taking it 7-3 to send the match into a deciding third set.
As Ferrer began to tire, Nadal dominated the final set, breaking his compatriot twice and holding his serve to move into a 4-0 lead. Ferrer missed the opportunity to break Nadal in the next game, firing wide into the tramline to allow Nadal the opportunity to extend his lead to 5-0.
Nadal then broke Ferrer in the final game to clinch the set 6-0 and move into the last four of the competition.
Steven Toplis
