DOHA, Qatar — Despite being broken four times, Rafael Nadal managed to make his way into the Qatar Open semifinals by beating Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 Thursday (early Friday morning in Manila).
Nadal lost his serve on all four break points he faced against the 79th-ranked Kuznetsov. The second-seeded Spaniard broke his opponent's serve five times in 10 attempts.
Nadal will next play Illya Marchenko in the semifinals. The Ukrainian, who beat David Ferrer in the first round, defeated seventh-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 7-6 (3).