World

Spaniard world’s No. 1 tennis player Rafael Nadal defeated on Wednesday Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1 at the Masters 1000 tournament of Madrid.

    With his 61-minute victory, Nadal, favorite in the tournament, will face German Phillip Kohlschreiber on Thursday.

    Media said that the match between Nadal and Kohlschreiber will be like an appetizer for the coming Davis Cup series, to be played in Malaga in July between Spain and Germany.

    In other matches, Spaniard Oscar Hernandez lost to Seribian Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3 in one hours and 38 minutes, Italian Andreas Seppi defeated Amerucan Sam Querry 6-3, 4-6 and 6-4.

    Djokovic and Seppi will face each other in the quarterfinals at the Masters

Rafael Nadal, No. 1 in the world, defeated fellow Spaniard No. 7 Fernando Verdasco 6-4 and 7-5 to make the semifinal of the Madrid Open tennis tournament final on Friday.

    Swiss Roger Federer, second of the world, downed American Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-7 and 6-1, and Serbian Novak Djokovic got his ticket to the semifinal by beating Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 and 6-4.

 In the semifinals on Saturday, Nadal will Djokovic while Federer faces the winner between Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and British Andy Murray.

    In the women’s event, Russian Dinara Safina, No. 1 in the world, defeated Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-4 and 6-3, while French Amelie Mauresmo won over Hungarian Anges Szavay 5-7, 6-1 and 6-3.

    Danish Caroline Wozniacki eliminated Swiss Vera Dushevna 6-0 and 6-4, and Serbian Jelena Jankovic lost to Swiss Patty Schnyder 7-6 and 6-3. In the semifinals, Mauresmo will play Wozniacki, and Safina against Schnyder.