Shanghai Masters roundup | Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal enter semifinals

World no. 1 Rafael Nadal has now equalled Andre Agassi at sixth in the list of all-time of maximum all-time Open era wins with his win over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Chasing a tour-leading seventh title, the Spaniard shows no signs of stopping as he stretched his winning run to 15 on Friday.

Dimitrov hardly posed a threat for Nadal in the first set as he breezed through it 6-4 with relative ease. However, the World no. 8 did show some grit in the second set as Nadal failed to break, leading the game to a tie-break, which the Spaniard eventually won 6-7 (4-7).

Dimitrov looked poised for a comeback in the third set as he had an early break point, but Nadal’s persistence paid off as he prevented it with a backhand volley, which gave him the confidence to win the next three games on the trot.

Nadal faces a tricky task in the semis against world no. 5 Marin Cilic, who comes to the game on the back of a comfortable 6-3 6-4 win against Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a game that saw him serve 10 aces.

Roger Federer had an easier win compared to his nemesis as he defeated France’s Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-4. Federer has a brilliant record facing Gasquet, against whom he has won the past 15 sets, all by margins of 6-4 or greater, and fans were hardly expecting things to change anytime soon. 

However, the 16 seed did bring some competition in the opening set itself as he held a break point while 3-2 up. However, given the knack of coming back from tight situations that Federer has recently developed, the Swiss broke Gasquet at 5-5 winning the first set 7-5 eventually.

He then took an early lead by in the second set by breaking Gasquet’s serve and repeated it again at 3-3, eventually edging out Gasquet 6-4. He is scheduled to face Argentine Juan Martin Del Porto in the semi-final, who is a major doubt after suffering a wrist injury during his match against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki, even though he recovered in time to beat him 6-4, 1-6, 4-6.

The 29-year-old has had three operations on the wrist, missing 11 months of tennis. Potro’s communication manager has played down any serious concerns by informing that doctors have put him on a splint. Despite his US Open quarter-final loss to Potro, Federer holds a 16-6 lead in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series over the South American.