Nadal serves up storm to power to semi-finals

Rafael Nadal continued his seemingly unstoppable march through the French Open draw with a 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 6-3 victory over Nicolas Almagro to reach the semi-finals.

It was at least a test for the six-time champion, who had lost only 19 games in his first five matches and reeled off 17 straight games in beating Juan Monaco in the fourth round.

The first set was very close but Nadal won the first four points of the tie-break, the last of those after a lung-busting 34-shot rally, and from there took control.

The Spaniard extended his record at Roland Garros to 50 wins and only one defeat and it would be a big upset if he did not win a record seventh title on Sunday, beating the mark he currently shares with Bjorn Borg.

One of the keys to Nadal’s success this tournament has been his serve — remarkably the Spaniard has been broken only once, in his first-round match against Simone Bolelli.

Nadal, who will next play David Ferrer, said: “In all the tournaments where I made it to the quarter-finals or semi-finals, when I went deep in the tournament, I needed to have a very powerful serve. This year my serve is working very well.”

Andy Murray’s campaign came to an end against Ferrer. The world number four had never beaten Ferrer on clay in three meetings and the relentless hitting and intensity of 30-year-old Ferrer ensured he advanced to a semi-final against Nadal tomorrow. Ferrer did not allow Murray get ahead at any point in the match and ran out a 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 6-2 winner.

In the women’s championship, today Sharapova, who will become the new world number one if she makes the final, will play Petra Kvitova in the semi-final in what is a rematch of the Wimbledon showpiece from last year. Today’s other semi-final sees US Open champion Sam Stosur take on Italian 21st seed Sara Errani.