Defending champion Rafael Nadal fought off a spirited challenge from Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo on Friday as the top four seeds including Andy Murray safely reached the semi-finals of the Japan Open. Former world number one Nadal, playing his first ATP tournament since losing in the US Open final last month, struggled to break Giraldo’s serve in the first set and needed a tie-break to set him up for a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 win. Giraldo fell two games behind in the second set, taking only one point, but rallied in the third to break the 25-year-old Spaniard’s serve and make it 1-2. Nadal took the following decisive game, knocking the Colombian’s resolve. “For me, the mistake was in the third game of the second set at 30-0. That was the moment. After a very tough first set, I had a chance to play more relaxed, more aggressive, but I lost that game,” said Nadal.
“I just had to hang in there and fight as hard as I could and try to take advantage of any opportunity I had there late in the second set,” said Fish, ranked eighth in the world. Looking forward to his meeting with Nadal, Fish said it is “always a pleasure” to play the Spaniard. “He is one of my good friends out here. Hopefully it will be fun.” Second seed Murray, fresh from winning the Thailand Open last weekend, breezed past David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-4, 7-5 in just less than 100 minutes. Nalbandian double-faulted twice at deuce to lose the fifth game of the first set and never recovered. Briton Murray will play third seed and 2007 champion David Ferrer of Spain, winner over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).
Top four seeds to contest Japan Open semis
