Tennis story by Dominic Taylor, Tue, 24 Jan 2006 21:04:00 GMT


MELBOURNE - Argentine star David Nalbandian booked his place in the semi-finals of the Australian Open with an authoritative 7-5 6-0 6-0 win over Fabrice Santoro in a quarterfinal match here today. Nalbandian was at his best in a match that lasted just 101 minutes.

This was Santoro's first appearance in the last eight of a Grand Slam tournament, but he showed no nerves as he matched the number four seed shot for shot in the first set. But Nalbandian unleashed powerful shots to blank him in the final two sets. After the match he said that he was looking good to clinch a first grand slam title, "I feel that I can keep going, so I have to keep working, keep playing, keep focus," Nalbandian told reporters after his win in the Rod Laver arena.

"The goals that I chose to do, to win some grand slams, I'm ready to do." Nalbandian is one of the players seen as a challenger to Swiss ace Roger Federer's domination. "I do quarters all the time so it's not a big difference," Nalbandian added. "But I'm in the semis now, so I'm very happy. I'll try to be in the finals and try to play all the four grand slam finals."

Commenting on Santoro, Nalbandian said, "It's very difficult to play against him because he doesn't have a normal style. But then I started playing better, with more confidence, hitting better shots." He will now face either Ivan Ljubicic or Marcos Baghdatis, who beat Andy Roddick.

Meanwhile, Justine Henin-Hardenne overcame number 1 seed Lindsay Davenport 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to move to the semifinals. Henin-Hardenne will face Russian Maria Sharapova in the semis.

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