In what was easily the most delightful moment in the otherwise lop-sided quarter final match between top seed Rafael Nadal and Davide Sanguinetti, the 34-year-old Italian ran across the court and hit a drop shot that the Spaniard — 14 years his junior — failed to reach. The winner gave the veteran his first game in the second set after reeling at 0-4, and a pat on the back from Nadal during the changeover.

The two-time French Open champion kept it simple today. He served well and hit clean winners off both flanks to cruise to a 6-3, 6-2 victory inside the hour mark. “Yeah, it wasn’t difficult today. I played a consistent match. It’s nice to be in the semi-finals in the first tournament of the year. I finished the match feeling very good,” Nadal told reporters at the post-match conference.

The world No 2 will next meet talented Belgian Xavier Malisse who ousted French sixth seed Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 earlier on Centre Court. “Malisse is a complete player. He has the shots. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” said Nadal of his semi-final opponent.

The Mallorcan served three aces in the very first game, and this set the tone for the remainder of the match. He broke the Sanguinetti serve in the sixth game with a down the line backhand winner to gain the lead. It was only a matter of time before the top seed closed out the first set with a spectacular backhand cross-court volley.

... contd.