Rafa Nadal powers into Shanghai Masters semi-finals after Stan Wawrinka win
Friday 16 October 2015 13:31, UK
Rafa Nadal notched up his 300th Masters victory with a ruthless straight sets win over Stan Wawrinka in the Shanghai quarter-finals.
Novak Djokovic then booked his own semi-final spot with a 7-6 6-1 win against Bernard Tomic.
Nadal, who was a losing finalist to Djokovic in the China Open, continued his recent resurgence by reaching the latter stages of another hard court tournament with a commanding 6-2 6-1 victory over Wawrinka.
Nadal needed just over an hour to sweep aside the Swiss world No 4, seizing four of nine break points to punish an error-strewn display by Wawrinka.
After beating a top-five player for the first time in over a year, Nadal will next face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who booked his place in Saturday's semis after a 7-6 5-7 6-4 win over Kevin Anderson
Wawrinka racked up 34 unforced errors throughout the match, opening the door for Nadal to break him with his fluent ground strokes in the opening set.
The 29-year-old was displaying the steely determination that had spurred him on to collect 14 Grand Slam titles and he fended off the only break point for Wawrinka in the second set.
He then powered into a 5-0 lead while plundering his opponent's vulnerable serve and Wawrinka blundered on his backhand for the umpteenth time to hand the Spaniard a landmark victory.
Afterwards, Djokovic overcame a stern test from Tomic to also advance into the final four in Shanghai.
The Australian forced the world No 1 out of his comfort zone in a highly competitive opening set but couldn't keep up the momentum heading into the second.
Tomic held his own in a memorable tie-break that Djokovic narrowly edged but dramatically fell away in the next set, although he did briefly hold break point although it only delayed the inevitable with the Serb serving for the match.
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