Nadal survives scare to race to win
LONDON (Reuters) - French Open champion Rafael Nadal survived an early scare when he needed treatment to his right calf before beating Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-3 6-1 on Monday to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
The second seed, 1-0 up after serving first, slipped and landed badly on his right leg chasing a crosscourt shot and needed a time-out for treatment on the side of Court One.
However, it proved a blip and the 22-year-old Spaniard crushed an opponent he needed five sets to overcome at the same stage of Wimbledon a year ago. He next meets Frenchman Richard Gasquet or Briton Andy Murray in the last eight.
Nadal told reporters later that he had had a fright when he felt pain behind the knee but doctors had established there was no serious injury.
"Everything is positive. I simply made a bad movement and my muscle hardened. I was scared at first but I lasted the whole match," Nadal, runner-up last year, said.
Youzhny, seeded 17th, had won the last of their previous 10 meetings by a remarkable 6-0 6-1 in the final at Chennai in January. Their tally is now 7-4 to Nadal.
Nadal, who plays with bands round his knees, had a new band wrapped around his right leg before resuming the second game which Youzhny won.
The 26-year-old Russian managed to break Nadal's serve in the opening set but it was to be the only time in the match for him while the Spaniard had two breaks on his way to taking the set in 49 minutes and the match in two hours and 10 minutes.
While Nadal broke again twice in the second set, Youzhny enjoyed few good moments in a match dominated by his opponent.
NET SUCCESS
Nadal, a natural baseliner, had a remarkable success rate of 21 out of 24 points won when he came up to the net and raised a laugh when, asked why, he said: "Unbelievable volley".
He added that he felt he "always arrived well at the net."
Youzhny was so erratic that even when he had sure-fire winning shots he contrived to turn them into unforced errors.
One such error came in the first game of the third set when Youzhny netted a volley at the net with Nadal nowhere near.
It was the first of two break points Nadal survived to go to deuce before taking the game with a dipping, tight crosscourt backhand shot.
The Spaniard then broke Youzhny in the next game when the Russian sent an easy smash too long with Nadal at his mercy.
Nadal, who has won five titles this year including the grasscourt tournament at Queen's, raced away to a 5-0 lead.
Youzhny saved a match point in the sixth game when Nadal held advantage on the Russian's serve but found the net to make it 5-1.
Nadal then set up three match points on his serve and won the first when Youzhny's clever lob was just too long.
(Editing by Clare Lovell)
