Rafael Nadal sees off Fabio Fognini to reach Rogers Cup semi-final

Image Courtesy: Reuters

World number two Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a record 35th ATP Masters 1000 title as he bounced back from the first set down to brush aside Fabio Fognini of Italy in the quarter-final clash of the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Saturday. 

After going down in the opening set, the Spaniard tennis maestro cut down his mistakes and rebounded strongly to seal a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Fognini in a thrilling last-eight clash of the men's singles event of the tournament that lasted one hour and 57 minutes. 

Nadal, who has now stormed into the semi-finals of the Montreal Masters for the first time since 2013, has improved his ATP Head-to-Head rivalry against the Italian to 12-4. Notably, Fognini's major wins over Nadal include his third-round victory at the 2015 US Open and semi-final win in this year's Monte Carlo Masters. 

Following the win, Nadal said that though it was a roller-coster match, he is only taking the positives heading into the next match.

"It was an up-and-down match, but a positive match for me.I have been playing better and better," the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) quoted Nadal as saying. 

Nadal, who is a four-time champion of the Canadian Open, will now lock horns with the winner of another last-eight clash between countryman Roberto Bautista Agut and No. 16 seed Gael Monfils.

On Wednesday, 18-time Grand Slam champion Nadal defeated Guido Pella of Argentina in straight sets to notch up his 379th Masters 1000 victory, thus surpassing third-ranked Roger Federer's record of 378 in the elite series.