Nadal knocked out

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:12

Top seed Nadal had defeated Monfils easily in their three previous meetings but the exciting 22-year-old, who has risen to 13th in the world on the back of an impressive 2008, turned the tables with an excellent performance.

Monfils is one of the few players who can compete with Nadal’s athleticism but it was his serve that proved the difference, the fifth seed winning 83% of points on his first delivery.

Nadal converted the only break point he had but that was not enough as Monfils racked up three breaks, including in the final game, for a notable victory.

Monfils, a finalist in Doha in 2006, will face fourth seed Andy Roddick in the last four after the American breezed past Victor Hanescu 6-3 6-2.

Roddick was particularly dominant on serve against the Romanian and will need to match that on Friday if he is to deny Monfils a place in the final.

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