Rust off, Rafael Nadal embraces dirt
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Hamburg Open by beating fifth-seeded Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-2 on Friday. Nadal’s semifinal opponent will be Andreas Seppi, who reached the last four without having to play.
His opponent, Simone Bolleli, withdrew with a stomach ailment.
Nadal is looking to extend his streak of having won at least one European clay-court title every year since 2004. The former top-ranked player has dropped to No. 10 in the world.
Qualifier Lucas Pouille upset Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2 to set up a semifinal encounter against eighth-seeded and 2013 Hamburg winner Fabio Fognini, who beat Aljaz Bedene 6-4, 7-5. Pouille reached his second semifinal of the year by ending Paire’s seven-match winning run that included his maiden title in Bastad, Sweden.
Earlier, Nadal had to toil hard to beat Jiri Vesely 6-4, 7-6 (2) for a place in the quarterfinal. Nadal appeared in trouble when he dropped his serve for 4-4 in the second set. But he broke right back and served for the match, only to commit a double fault at match point. He served another double fault to drop the game, but Vesely could not take advantage and Nadal cruised through the tiebreaker, winning the match when Vesely netted a backhand.
Nadal is playing in Hamburg for the first time since he won the clay-court event in 2008. This is his first tournament since losing to Dustin Brown in the second round of Wimbledon. Once No. 1 in the world, Nadal has dropped to No. 10. Seppi, meanwhile, reached the quarterfinals by beating Florian Mayer of Germany 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Meanwhile, two-time defending champion John Isner beat Radek Stepanek 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7) on Thursday night in his opening match in the Atlanta Open. The top-seeded Isner has made the Atlanta finals four of the last five years, winning the last two after losing to Mardy Fish in 2010 and 2011. Yet, this was the first time in six Atlanta appearances that he was not taken to three sets in his first match.
Still, Stepanek — previously 4-1 against Isner — stretched both sets only to see Isner move to 12-1 in Atlanta tiebreakers since 2012.
While Isner’s booming serve was good for 33 aces to three for Stepanek, it was a good thing the world’s 19th-ranked player was at “home”. Fans in Atlantic Station favoured the former University of Georgia star, especially when the former Bulldog trailed in the second.
“(With) the Georgia fans, the barks in the crowd, it feels like I’m playing a college match,” Isner said after moving to 17-3 in Atlanta.
“It’s a very comfortable atmosphere. I played a pretty nervous match, to be honest.” Isner took the first set with his 17th ace, but Stepanek — a 36-year-old, 20-year pro from the Czech Republic — registered the first service break of the match when he launched a forehand winner to lead 3-2 in the second set.
After trading holds, Isner broke back in a game where he turned his back to the net and ran to save a deep ball by popping it high in the sky. That set up an eventual passing shot that surprised Stepanek.
“I certainly got lucky right there,” said Isner, who now lives in Tampa. “He hit it right back at me and I was able to hit a winner. He had some double faults in that game as well.”
Earlier, Ukrainian qualifier Denis Kudla upset third-seeded Jack Sock 7-6 (6), 6-3, and No. 6 Steve Johnson and No. 8 Benjamin Becker also tumbled out. Sock, an American ranked 35th, fell quickly in the second set when his service game abandoned him.
