Nadal out, Murray, Zvonareva, Clijsters advance
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Rafael Nadal of Spain waves to the audience after losing the men's singles quarterfinal against his compatriot David Ferrer at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 26, 2011. Nadal failed to qualify for the semifinal after losing the match 0-3. (Xinhua/Chen Duo) |
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal on Wednesday shockingly crashed out of the tournament, while Andy Murray, Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters continue their battle into semi finals of Australian Open.
Biggest favorite Nadal was defeated by 7th seed Spanish David Ferrer 4-6, 2-6, 3-6 in two hours and 33 minutes to ends his "Rafa Slam" bid to collect his 4th straight Grand Slam title to complete a non-calendar year Grand Slam.
Nadal called for medical timeout after three games in first set due to an upper leg hamstring injury or back injury. When he returned, his body language to his coach in the players box was not good. Despite receiving treatment after the fifth game, he lost the first set 6-4.
Nadal then played poorly in the second and third set, as he looks to have difficulties running and moving side to side of the court.
"It's not easy because Rafa is a gentleman and he was playing with [an] injury and we are friendly," Ferrer, a fellow Spaniard and Davis Cup teammate of Nadal's, told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday.
"I got lucky because he was injured in the first set, but I did my game and I fight a lot...his injury, sometimes it's not easy."
After the game, Nadal said crashing out of the tournament is difficult for him, and he refused to anything about the injury.
Nadal said he thinks Ferrer played at a very high level. He congratulate him and wish him all the best for the semifinal.
"I think he's doing a fantastic tournament. If he keep playing like this, he going to have a good chances," Nadal told reporters.
Nadal's most recent loss in the quarterfinals of a major was at last year's Australian Open, when he retired from his game against Andy Murray due to a right knee injury.
This is Ferrer' s first time to reach semi-finals in Australian Open. He will next meet Fifth seed Andy Murray on Friday.
Meanwhile, fifth seed Andy Murray battled pass unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, and reached the semifinals of Australian Open for the second consecutive year.
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