Nadal and Fish to clash in Tokyo

Written by: Global Chick on 8th October 2011

Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships - Rafael Nadal vs Santiago Giraldo

Nadal and Fish to clash in Tokyo

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball against Santiago Giraldo of Columbia during the quarter-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 07 October 2011. Nadal won 7-6. 6-3. EPA/EVERETT KENNEDY BROWN |

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is still showing good form at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. Earlier today the Spaniard defeated Colombian Santiago Giraldo 7-6 (6) 6-3 to book a spot in the semi-finals.

Rafa has already qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London at the end of the year. He is looking to add another title this week to his 46 career titles he has already amassed.

Nadal said, “It was a tough match, he played well and aggressive. It was a positive victory, straight sets.” Giraldo was happy with his performance today. “Today was the fourth time I played him. It was the best match I played. It was close in the first set and I had some chances in the second.”

Inform American Mardy Fish had a tough battle with young upcoming Australian Bernard Tomic today. Fish started to come back after he lost the first set in a tiebreaker. The number four seed won the next two sets 6-4 6-1. “It was very tough. He is a young player and his game presents a lot of awkward moments. He doesn’t exactly play like normal players play. He is going to be good for a long time. I just had to try to hang in there in the second set and take any opportunity I had,” Fish said.

Fish is looking good to qualify for the London Finals. He is currently No. 6 in the race. “London is the main goal at the end of the year. I have never made it before. I desperately want to, that’s no secret. I am in a great position, I’ve had a great tournament so far but there I feel like there is still work to do. I have the opportunity to add some more points in the race and with Shanghai next week it would be good to win some more matches on hard courts.”

The World No. 8’s win/loss record against Nadal is 1 win and 6 losses. The most recent meeting was at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Cincinnati when Fish won in straight sets.

Competing for a spot in the final in the bottom half of the draw are David Ferrer of Spain and Brit Andy Murray. David Ferrer moved into the semi-final by defeating Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-2 7-6 (3).

Andy Murray played a tough match against David Nalbandian. “I played well. I served very well for the most part. He is on of the best returners in the game, so I didn’t give him too many opportunities,” the Cincinnati winner said about his 6-4 7-5 win today. Nalbandian is a nightmare opponent. He was once a Top 10 player but is currently ranked No. 64 after suffering from injuries.

The World No. 4 knows he will be doing a lot of running tomorrow against David Ferrer tomorrow. “I will try to get a food night’s sleep, get some food in me and have a massage before bed. Ferrer is a very tough opponent. He has been in the Top 10 for a very long time and is playing some of the best tennis of his career.”

Ferrer and Murray have played each other six times and they are 3-3. Murray won their most recent match at this year’s Australian Open.

CENTRE COURT start 12:00 noon

[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs [4] M Fish (USA)

Not Before 2:00 PM

[3] D Ferrer (ESP) vs [2] A Murray (GBR)

M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) vs [4] F Cermak (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK)

A Murray (GBR) / J Murray (GBR) vs R Haase (NED) / V Troicki (SRB)