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4/24/09 6:14 AM | Ricky Dimon
Rafael Nadal is through to the Barcelona semifinals, as David Nalbandian is unable to contest their would-be quarterfinal clash due to a hip injury.
As if things have not already been easy enough for Rafael Nadal this week in Barcelona, the world No. 1 gained free entry into the Open Banco Sabadell semifinals when David Nalbandian pulled out with a hip injury.
Nadal, who received an opening-round bye as the first of the top eight seeds and then lost a combined six games against Frederico Gil and Christophe Rochus, will await the winner of a quarterfinal match between No. 3 seed Nikolay Davydenko and ninth-seeded Radek Stepanek.
Nalbandian sustained the injury late in his third-round encounter against Nicolas Almagro, but the Argentine was still able to prevail 6-3, 6-4 in just one hour and three minutes. Shortly thereafter, however, Nalbandian announced he would be unable to compete in the quarterfinals.
Although the Spanish fans are surely disappointed to miss their man in action on Friday, Nadal is making no complaints. "I don't think it's a disadvantage for me not to play tomorrow. I will train a bit more intensively than usual and that's it. It's not pretty to reach the semifinals like this, but I have to be positive; I'm in the semis of (Barcelona) and that's always a good thing.
"I'm sorry for Nalbandian," Nadal added. "I knew he has been struggling with this and I hope he gets better soon. It's always an interesting match against him and for me it was a challenge. We've never played on clay."
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