Nadal Tops Nieminen to Reach Semifinals http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/2008news/ao_tuesday2.1.asp World No. 2 Rafael Nadal became the first player to book his place in the Australian Open semifinals when he defeated No. 24 seed Jarkko Nieminen 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 Tuesday afternoon. Both players were bidding to reach their first career semifinal at Melbourne Park. In the first quarterfinal meeting between lefthanders at the Australian Open since 1997, Nieminen provided the Spaniard with a stern challenge in the opening set as he held two set points. But Nadal, who joined World No. 3 Novak Djokovic as the only two players yet to drop a set going into the quarterfinals, battled back to keep his perfect record intact. Whereas the Finn had failed to deliver, Nadal took advantage of his first break point chance in the next game to go up 6-5. He promptly served out the first set in 54 minutes, and then converted on five of his eight break point chances the remainder of the way to secure his berth in the final four. With the win, Nadal improved to a 24-3 lifetime record against fellow lefthanders - four of those victories have now come against Nieminen - as he became the 15th different lefthander to advance to the Australian Open semifinals in the Open Era. The last to do so were Petr Korda and and Marcelo Rios in 1998, who went on to meet in the eighth all left-handed Grand Slam final of the Open Era. Nadal is the fourth Spaniard to have reached the Australian Open semifinals, joining Andres Gimeno, Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero. No Spaniard has ever won the Australian championship, though Gimeno reached the final in 1969 and Moya in 1997. "It's a good moment for me - being my first semi-finals on hardcourt at a Grand Slam," Nadal said afterwards. "I'm happy because it's important to cross the quarter-finals. I try my best [to reach] the final. If I'm in the final on Sunday it's going to be a dream for me, to start the season like this." "I'm very happy about my start here. It's better than I thought." He is attempting to become the first reigning Roland Garros champion to win the Australian Open since Andre Agassi in 2000, and will attempt to maintain his perfect 5-0 record in Grand Slam semifinals (2005-07 Roland Garros, 2006-07 Wimbledon). The Spaniard still has an opportunity to overtake Roger Federer at No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings should he win the title and Federer loses his quarterfinal match against 12th-seeded American James Blake on Wednesday. Nadal has been ranked No. 2 for 131 straight weeks. --

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