Nadal routs Ferrer after slow start, reaches French Open semis

Spain’s Rafael Nadal got off to a sluggish start but found a higher level over the final two sets to cruise to a 46, 64, 60, 61 victory here Wednesday evening over countryman David Ferrer and advance to the French Open semifinals for the ninth time.

Ferrer outhit the world No. 1 in the early part of the contest, which got underway just before 7:00 p.m. due to rain earlier in the day and was played in windy, humid conditions on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the No. 2 stadium.

He seized an early lead at 31 and, although Nadal battled back to tie the score, later wrapped up the set with a second break of serve in the 10th game.

But Nadal jumped out to a quick start in the second set with a service break in the third game and was able to hold on and even the match despite not playing his best tennis.

The world No. 1 then proceeded to tighten up his game over the rest of the match, giving away just three points with unforced errors after making 28 in the first two sets.

That made life difficult for Ferrer, who lost 10 games in a row and won just one of 13 secondserve points in the third and fourth sets.

Ferrer created eight break points after the first set, but he was only able to convert one of them and that came late in the fourth set after Nadal had seized total control of their quarterfinal showdown.

“It was a very tough match. David is one of the best in the world on clay. I feel bad for him because he’s having a great season, but I’m happy to have reached (the semifinals),” Nadal said afterward in an oncourt interview.

He added that the match was less lopsided than the score indicated because “David made errors in the break points that he had.”

Ferrer stunned the world No. 1 in the quarterfinals of this year’s Monte Carlo Masters, one of the first events of the European claycourt season, but discovered once again how difficult it is to beat his countryman at Roland Garros, where Nadal’s overall record now stands at 641.

The eighttime champion’s only loss at the French Open came at the hands of Sweden’s Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the 2009 event. He had won a record 31 straight matches before that defeat but broke that mark at this year’s event with a 32nd consecutive win on Monday.

Next up for Nadal in Friday’s semifinals will be Scotland’s Andy Murray, who outlasted homecrowd favorite Gael Monfils 64, 61, 46, 16, 60 just before night fell on Wednesday.

Nadal defeated Murray in straight sets in the 2011 French Open semifinals, the only time they have played at this event. The Spaniard holds a 145 edge in their career headto head.

In their last meeting, Nadal eked out a 16, 63, 75 victory at this year’s Rome Masters, a key French Open tuneup.

In women’s singles action Wednesday, 28thseeded German Andrea Petkovic and fourthseeded Simona Halep of Romania both reached their first Grand Slam semifinal with straightset wins.

Petkovic routed Italy’s Sara Errani, the 2012 finalist, 62, 62 before Halep finished off Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, by that same score line.