TNT Sports
"Emotional" Nadal in semis
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Published 06/07/2006 at 14:10 GMT+1
Spain's Rafa Nadal said he was "very emotional" as he beat Jarkka Nieminen of Finland in straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on Thursday. He will face Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the semi-finals on Friday.
Eurosport
Image credit: TNT Sports
"I am very emotional," Nadal said. "I prepared well for this tournament.
"It will be difficult against Baghdatis. He's showing a lot of confidence."
Nadal was pleased that his grasscourt game has improved and confident that it will continue to do so. "I am playing with more confidence, especially with my serve," he said.
"With my forehand I am especially improving. I am coming in a bit more. That's very important on this surface...It's very important to play aggressive.
"I am still learning for sure. I am 20 years old and I need to improve and improve always."
DIFFICULT BATTLE
The match was held over from Wednesday due to rain. Nadal broke early in the first set to go 3-1 up.
Nieminen battled hard in an attempt to claw back the set but Nadal delivered a succession of unplayable forehand drives to the back of the court, leaving him unable to attack the net.
In a baseline contest with Nadal you have to produce something pretty special to emerge victorious and Nieminen couldn't quite find it. Nadal took the set 6-3.
In the second set Nieminen won the backing of the crowd on Court 1 and really took the match to Nadal in his service games. He was aggressive whenever he saw a chance and it paid off for him as he won several impressive games.
However, Nadal held his own serve with a minimum of fuss, meaning that Nieminen was always fighting to stay level as Nadal controlled the match.
A late break in the set from the Spaniard was a crushing blow to Nieminen and he eventually went down 6-4.
SIMILAR STORY
It was a similar story in the third set although Nieminen twice came within a whisker of breaking his opponent. He seemed to discover a positive mindset that allowed him to threaten Nadal, although he couldn't quite finish the job druing Nadal's serve.
There were several moments of inspiration from both players throughout, in particular a devastating cross-court flick from Nieminen when he looked unlikely to return the ball.
The world number 18 adopted a Nadal-style ability to close out his own serve and it came as a surprise when his rival managed to break to go 4-3 up.
Nieminen did not recover from the shock and although he held a further service game, Nadal closed out the set and took the match in relative comfort.
At the end the young man from Mallorca punched the air and cried, "vamos!" in his delight at reaching the semi-finals.
He knew he had faced a tough opponent in Nieminen and was pleased to progress as he continues to adapt to grass, his least natural surface.
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