Shanghai:
Rafael Nadal advanced to the Shanghai Masters final on Saturday after Feliciano Lopez became the ninth player to retire from the tournament when trailing 6-1, 3-0.
The unseeded Lopez said he woke up Saturday with a right foot infection, and then twisted his right ankle on the last point of the first set.
The top-seeded Nadal, whose quarterfinal opponent Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia retired with a left hip injury, will play sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the final. The Russian outlasted second-seeded Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).
Nadal, who only lost four points in the five service games he played against Lopez, holds a 4-2 advantage over Davydenko in their previous meetings.
"He's playing very well today," Nadal said of the Russian. "He has a lot of rhythm, and he's playing with a lot of intensity. It's going to be a really tough match."
Nadal is looking for his sixth title of the year, and the first since returning from an injury layoff to recover from knee tendinitis, which prevented him from defending his Wimbledon title. The Spaniard also struggled with a stomach muscle injury after the U.S. Open.
"I'm in a final and that's very important," Nadal said. "It's my first final since I've been back and that's a good result for me."
Davydenko reached his fourth final of the year after a hard-fought match that lasted more than three hours. The Russian dominated the final tiebreaker, racing out to a 5-0 lead before sealing the win.
Djokovic had saved all three break points he faced in the first set, before breaking Davydenko with his second set point when the Russian smacked a crosscourt backhand wide.
Davydenko then took control of the second by breaking for a 4-3 lead when Djokovic's forehand sailed long at 15-40. The Russian had two set points on Djokovic's serve in the ninth game but couldn't convert either. Instead, he served it out in the next game with two aces.
Davydenko lost twice to Djokovic on this court last year during the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup last year _ a round-robin match and the final.
Davydenko has won all three finals he has played this year, in Hamburg, Umag and the Kuala Lumpur tournament two weeks ago.
The unseeded Lopez said he woke up Saturday with a right foot infection, and then twisted his right ankle on the last point of the first set.
The top-seeded Nadal, whose quarterfinal opponent Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia retired with a left hip injury, will play sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the final. The Russian outlasted second-seeded Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).
Nadal, who only lost four points in the five service games he played against Lopez, holds a 4-2 advantage over Davydenko in their previous meetings.
"He's playing very well today," Nadal said of the Russian. "He has a lot of rhythm, and he's playing with a lot of intensity. It's going to be a really tough match."
Nadal is looking for his sixth title of the year, and the first since returning from an injury layoff to recover from knee tendinitis, which prevented him from defending his Wimbledon title. The Spaniard also struggled with a stomach muscle injury after the U.S. Open.
"I'm in a final and that's very important," Nadal said. "It's my first final since I've been back and that's a good result for me."
Davydenko reached his fourth final of the year after a hard-fought match that lasted more than three hours. The Russian dominated the final tiebreaker, racing out to a 5-0 lead before sealing the win.
Djokovic had saved all three break points he faced in the first set, before breaking Davydenko with his second set point when the Russian smacked a crosscourt backhand wide.
Davydenko then took control of the second by breaking for a 4-3 lead when Djokovic's forehand sailed long at 15-40. The Russian had two set points on Djokovic's serve in the ninth game but couldn't convert either. Instead, he served it out in the next game with two aces.
Davydenko lost twice to Djokovic on this court last year during the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup last year _ a round-robin match and the final.
Davydenko has won all three finals he has played this year, in Hamburg, Umag and the Kuala Lumpur tournament two weeks ago.
