Nadal edges Verdasco in 3-tiebreaker match

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Rafael Nadal wanted to play a lot of tennis at the Western & Southern Open, though maybe not all in one day.

Nadal survived a three-set, three-tiebreaker match against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco on Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (9) victory that kept him on court for 3 hours, 38 minutes. Then, he played a doubles match that went an hour and 10 minutes, followed by interviews.

How'd he feel? "Fantastic," he said, smiling broadly.

Nadal arrived hoping to get a lot of on-court time this week. He missed nearly a month after hurting his left foot at Wimbledon, where he reached the finals and lost to Novak Djokovic.

He had a setback before his first match in Cincinnati. Nadal burned the tips of his index and middle fingers on his right hand when he touched a hot plate at a local restaurant. The left-handed Nadal had the fingers bandaged again Thursday for protection.

Playing on a sunny, mid-80s afternoon, the second-ranked Nadal finished it by converting his fifth match point. It was only the second best-of-three matches in Nadal's career that featured three tiebreakers.

"I would like to have one hour less than I have, but it's a positive one," said Nadal, now 12-0 against Verdasco.

In the quarterfinals, Nadal will play seventh-seeded Mardy Fish, who beat Richard Gasquet 7-5, 7-5.
"If you want to play someone like Rafa, you hope that he plays a match that's four hours long before you play him," Fish said. "I mean, that's as physical as it gets. It's hot out there, so I'm sure he'll be pretty tired."

Djokovic also moved into the quarterfinals by beating qualifier Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-3, improving to 31-0 on hard courts this year and 55-1 overall. Djokovic pumped his fist to get the crowd involved near the end.

"It's been very slow, kind of an ugly match to play and watch, so I think we really needed to engage the crowd at the end," Djokovic said.

"I've played so many matches, and they've caught up to me. It's OK.

"There are days like this when you don't feel like playing, but I hate losing. That's what makes me motivated on the court."

No. 4 Andy Murray advanced with a 6-2, 7-5 win over American qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr.

The women's bracket is wide open because of injuries and upsets. Defending champion Kim Clijsters (injuries) and Venus Williams (virus) had to skip the tournament, and Serena Williams dropped out on Wednesday because of a sore big toe after playing her seventh match in eight days.

Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki was upset in her first match of the tournament, and third-seeded Victoria Azarenka withdrew because of an injured hand.

Serena Williams' premature departure cleared the way for Samantha Stosur, who got an extra day of rest and looked refreshed on Thursday, beating fifth-seeded Li Na of China 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The 10th-seeded Australian was scheduled to face Williams on Wednesday.

"I wasn't complaining that she pulled out," said Stosur, who lost to Williams in the finals at Toronto last week. "I had a pretty easy day, which was nice, considering the week I had before. So I guess that was good for today's match, and hopefully will be good for tomorrow."

Stosur has beaten Li — the French Open champion — three times this season, including in the same round last week at Toronto.

Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Petra Martic. Fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-3. Slovkia's Daniela Hantuchova upset eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.