Rafael Nadal's injury comeback gathered pace Thursday as the 11-time Grand Slam champion reached the semi-finals of the Mexican Open and inched closer to a possible title showdown with fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. Nadal, playing his third tournament in four weeks after a seven-month injury layoff, beat Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-1, 7-5 in the quarters and will now play Nicolas Almagro.
Ferrer, the top seed and three-time defending champion whose world number four ranking puts him one spot higher than Nadal, breezed past Italy's Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-1 to book a semi-final clash with Fabio Fognini. The tournament is one of three Latin American clay court events Nadal tabbed for his comeback from a left knee injury. He opened with a runner-up finish at Vina del Mar - his first tournament since a surprise second-round exit at Wimbledon in June - and followed up by lifting the title in Sao Paulo two weeks ago.
In the women's quarter-finals of this combined ATP and WTA tournament, top seed and defending champion Sara Errani defeated Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4. Second-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro also advanced, downing sixth-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-2.
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