World No. 2 men's tennis player Rafael Nadal of Spain has eased into the semifinals of the Chennai Open tournament in India.
Nadal, the tournament's top seed, scored an easy win over countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-3, 6-2. The match was interrupted by heavy rain for more than three hours after just three games had been played.
In Saturday's semifinal, Nadal plays Moya, a two-time former champion, who scored a 6-3, 6-4 win over Frenchman Florent Serra. Nadal is 4-2 all-time against Moya, including a win in the quarterfinals of last year's French Open in Paris.
The other semifinal has fourth-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny taking on Croatian Marin Cilic. Youzhny scored a straight-sets win over defending champion Xavier Malisse of Belgium, 6-4, 6-4. Cilic came from behind to defeat Dutchman Robin Haase in three sets (4-6, 6-2, 6-3).
The Chennai tournament is being played on hard courts at the Sports Development Authority Tamil Nadu tennis stadium. The event is also a key warm-up for the first major tournament of the year, the Australian Open, which starts January 14th in Melbourne.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.
