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dimanche 11 octobre 2015

Nadal beats Italian nemesis Fognini in Beijing semis


DPA ©





Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after defeating Fabio Fognini of Italy
 Resurgent Rafael Nadal beat Fabio Fognini on Saturday
to set up half of what could be a dream final against Novak Djokovic
at the China Open.
Third seed Nadal overcame Fognini 7-5, 6-3 after losing three of four
previous meetings with the Italian this season.
A month ago, Fognini inflicted one of the biggest losses on 2015 on
Nadal, beating the Spaniard from two sets to love down in the third
round of the US Open.
Nadal did himself a favour with his win in China, moving up to
provisional sixth the the points race for the World Tour Finals in
London November 15-22.
The 29-year-old will wait for an opponent as top seed and Beijing
dominator Djokovic aims for his 28th straight victory in the capital
when he plays Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer, last week's champion
in Kuala Lumpur and a solid eighth in the chase to the season wrapup.
Nadal was playing his first hard court semi-final since Miami 2014.
""He's a great player, a great and talented player," said Nadal. "It
was a tough first set, as I expected. Tough match in general.
"But I played much closer to the baseline than the previous days.
That's very important for me, very important for my game. The
position for me on the court today was more aggressive, and that's
why I was able to beat him today after a couple of defeats."
Both men settled in during the fist set, which was littered with five
breaks of serve. Fognini saved two match points late in the second
set before going down in one and three-quarter hours.
"I'm happy to be in the final obviously," said Nadal. "It's a good
result for me, very positive one. And tomorrow is a match to enjoy.
"This gives me a lot of important points for the (season) finals. I
don't say that I am qualified, but with that result I am much closer
to being qualified for the World Tour Finals."
Fognini, who is yet to win a title this season, said: "Of course, I'm
disappointed because I lost. But this is sport. I think I played good
tennis.
"I have to accept these kinds of matches, that I know I can beat him
anytime at the moment. So it's really good for me that I know I can
play with him."

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