THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — Spain’s Rafael Nadal overcame Ivo Karlovic’s powerful serve to reach the Queen’s Club semifinals with a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) win on Friday.
Nadal will next play defending champion Andy Roddick of the U.S., who got a walkover in the quarter-finals when Andy Murray of Britain withdrew after injuring his right thumb in the previous round.
Nadal could not break the towering Karlovic a single time during the match, and didn’t even bother reaching for many of the 35 aces hit by the six-foot-10 Croat. Nadal had just two break points — while not conceding any — which were saved by Karlovic at 3-3 in the first set and 2-2 in the third.
"It was a very tough match," Nadal said. "It’s a very important win because I beat a specialist on this surface, a big server. I think I returned well, but I didn’t have lot of chances."
A double-fault by Nadal in the first tiebreaker was all Karlovic needed, as he closed out the set with his 15th ace. Nadal bounced back to win the second, and Karlovic then netted a backhand volley in the third tiebreaker to give the French Open champion a decisive 5-3 lead.
"On grass, especially these matches, everything is decided in two balls," Nadal said. "So it is very important to be prepared, and have the best concentration."
Roddick, who returned to action this week after missing the French Open with a shoulder injury, also benefited when opponent Mardy Fish retired with an ankle injury after the first set of their third-round match.
The sixth-seeded Murray said he sprained the thumb when it got caught in the net during Thursday’s match against Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis.
"I woke up this morning, couldn’t pick up my pillow, I was struggling to pick up my phone," Murray said. "Came down here and tried to practice, hit some balls. I could hit the ball decent, but I couldn’t hit a backhand volley, and slicing was very sore."
Murray said he expects to recover before Wimbledon, which starts June 23.
"If I played today I still think I would have been OK to play Wimbledon. (But) there’s no point going on the court feeling 50 per cent," he said. "I don’t think it’s going to take too long. I just have to take it day to day and see how the swelling goes down."
Second-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia eased past former four-time champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, using his powerful groundstrokes to win 6-2, 6-2.
"I played probably the best tennis of my life on grass," Djokovic said. "I was returning a lot of serves, being very aggressive and patient at the same time, serving a very high percentage, having a lot of aces. I put him under pressure. He made some unforced errors, crucial unforced errors, in the important moments."
Djokovic broke Hewitt’s serve in the opening game and got another break to lead 4-1. In the second set, Djokovic again took an early lead when he broke for 2-1, and then held off three break points at 3-2 before breaking again for 5-2.
Djokovic will next play fourth seed David Nalbandian of Argentina, who claimed his sixth victory in six meetings with Frenchman Richard Gasquet, winning 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3).