Nadal sets up Moya semi-final
CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - World number two Rafael Nadal shrugged aside a long rain interruption to race into the Chennai Open semi-finals with a 6-3 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Friday.
Nadal next meets third-seeded compatriot Carlos Moya, 31.
Former world number one Moya, who captured this trophy in 2004 and 2005, swept into his fifth Chennai semi with a 6-3 6-4 victory over unseeded Frenchman Florent Serra.
"It will be a nice semi-final for us," Nadal told reporters. "We've played a lot of times and practice together."
Russian fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny ended the hopes of defending champion Xavier Malisse, winning 6-4 6-4 against the Belgian, who is unseeded after an injury-hit 2007.
He will meet 19-year-old Marin Cilic of Croatia, who rallied to down Dutch number one Robin Haase 4-6 6-2 6-3 in a clash between two unseeded players in the last quarter-final.
Nadal, beaten in last year's semis here, was 2-1 up in his match when rain started to fall and play did not resume for almost three and a half hours.
He wasted little time on the resumption, forcing frequent errors from Garcia-Lopez, who is ranked 92nd in the world.
The left-hander broke serve in the eighth game to take the first set and continued to dominate his opponent with heavily spun returns.
The 21-year-old Nadal sprinted through the second set with breaks of serve in the fifth and seventh games before serving out for the match around midnight local time.
Former French Open champion Moya, ranked 17th in the world, wore down Serra under overcast skies.
"It is going to be a really tough match (against Nadal) but I have nothing to lose," said Moya.
(Editing by John Mehaffey)
