Madrid Open: Nadal to face Djokovic, Murray crashes out

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will meet for the third time at Madrid Open on Saturday. World number one Nadal surprisingly trailed 0-4 in the second set against Spanish rival Fernando Verdasco, the seventh seed, but king of clay stormed back for a 6-4, 7-5 win in a shade under 2 hours.

Third seed Djokovic, fighting to claw back his number 3 ranking from Scot Andy Murray, will face Nadal. The Serbian reached his fourth consecutive Masters semi-final with a 6-4,6-4 win over Croatian wild card Ivan Ljubicic.

“I thought at the moment (when he trailed 0-4) that I had to plat a bit better and get more confidence for a possible third set,” said Nadal. “I played really bad at that moment.” Nadal said he was happy to have avoided a third set.

Del Potro, who had lost all three of his previous meetings with Murray, came back from 2-5 in the first set to claim victory on a fourth match point in the ninth game of the second. Murray’s hope of celebrating his 22nd birthday with a victory were dashed by fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro who beat Andy 7-6(7/4), 6-3 in a late-night match.