Shanghai - Rafael Nadal moved into an unexpected semi-final showdown with fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez when the top seed advanced 3-6, 6-3 as opponent Ivan Ljubicic was forced to retire injured in their Shanghai Masters quarter-final Friday. The 30-year-old Croatian gave it away with a leg problem to hand Nadal the last-four spot after 90 minutes of play.
Nadal, who missed time this season with knee problems and an abdominal muscle pull,expressed his sympathy. "I'm sorry for Ivan," said the top seed. "I know how tough it is to be injured."
Lopez, victim of six first-round exits between Wimbledon and China, rose to the occasion as he put out ninth seed Robin Soderling 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
"I was trying hard, and it just didn't happen," said the winner, 13-19 on the season. "I was losing a lot of tournaments in the first round, which is tough for me.
"I'm the kind of player who really needs a few matches, and then I start to become more dangerous. This I was terrible since I started in January.
"It's a bit late now. It's almost the end of the season, but I'm happy for this.
Soderling led 4-2 in the opening set against Lopez before the Spaniard reversed that trend. The winner broke three times and profited from 30 Soderling unforced errors.
Soderling led 4-2 in the opening set against Lopez before the Spaniard reversed that trend. The winner broke three times and profited from 30 Soderling unforced errors.
Soderling, in the chase for one of the three remaining spots at November's season-ending World Tour Finals in London, was unable to add to his total and remained on provisional eighth in the field.
But closing fast just 20 points adrift is Nikolay Davydenko, who passed two rivals thanks to a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win over Radek Stepanek.
Davydenko,seeded sixth, has renewed his steady form after missing several months with foot and ankle problems during the first half of the season.
He moved past Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez to place provisional ninth.
The Russian said he had his problems against Stepanek. "He really changed his game in the second set, makinghis returns better and hitting well from the baseline. He's very unpredictable, you never know what he will do in a match."
Second seed Novak Djokovic, like Nadal already qualified for November's eight-man season wrap-up, polished his record with a defeat of eighth seed Gilles Simon 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
"I try to give my maximum always, and I'm really happy that I have gained the momentum in the last two months," said Djokovic, last week's Beijing trophyholder. "I have qualified already, but that doesn't change anything in my approach to the tournaments that I have now."
