Victories for Nadal and Murray at ABN Amro

Sunday, February 15, 2009 -- World No 1 Rafael Nadal held his ground against Jo-Wilfred Tsonga to earn a spot in the semis of the ABM Amro in Rotterdam.

Tsonga bombarded Nadal with a barrage of aces. The only break chances the Australian Open champion got was during the first and second sets. The second set saw Nadal miss his chance to triumph and instead had it end in a tiebreaker.

Nadal later on jumped to 2-0 in the third set and it later on ended with him the winner of the lengthy match that lasted 2 hours and 41 minutes.

"Tsonga has an unbelievable good service. It was really heavy," said Nadal.

Gael Monfils will be Nadal’s next opponent on his way to the finals.

Andy Murray also reached the semi-finals round after an injury caused his opponent Frenchman Marc Gicquel to retire.

Gicquel face Murray after he was made to replace injured Robin Soderling. He was able to match Murray’s attacks the first two sets, but he had to have his thigh bandaged during the later part of the second set. Gicquel gave up on the third set.

"It's never good to end a match like this," said Murray of his win against Gicquel.

Murray will be up against Mario Ancic in the semifinals. Ancic got his shot at the semis after beating Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

"I wish I could play in the Netherlands every week. My results here are great,” said Ancic after his victory against Youzhny.