Nadal stays on track after early scare

RAFAEL Nadal survived an early setback at the Barcelona Open yesterday to beat Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4 6-2 for a place in the semi-finals.

The top seed, aiming for a fourth successive title, looked off-colour early on to trail 4-2 but roared back to clinch the match.

Chela began superbly, breaking the Nadal serve to love to lead 4-2 but the match effectively hinged on an epic seventh game. Chela had five chances to extend his lead to 5-2 but Nadal won his third break-point.

He broke again two games later before serving out the set and after breaking Chela in the first game of the second set, eased to victory.

"If it had gone to 5-2 it would have been very difficult to win the first set," Nadal said afterwards. "But getting back to 4-3 gave me a lot of confidence."

Second seed David Ferrer came through his second tough battle in as many days to reach the semi-finals, beating Spanish compatriot Tommy Robredo 7-6 6-4. He will play 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka for a place in the final after the Swiss fought off the challenge of another Spaniard, Albert Montanes, 6-3 6-7 6-4.