Mason, Ohio – Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and former round victories Thursday at the $2.43 million Western & Southern Open, an ATP Masters and U.S. Open Series event.
The second-seeded Nadal got all he could handle from fellow Spanish left- hander Fernando Verdasco in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (11-9) marathon on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The U.S. Open and French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up Nadal barely prevailed in 3 hours, 37 minutes.
The 10-time Grand Slam champion Nadal, the all-time leader with a whopping 19 Masters titles, is now a perfect 12-0 lifetime against his Davis Cup teammate Verdasco.
The fourth-seeded Murray, meanwhile, handled American qualifier Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 7-5 on Day 5. The world No. 50 Bogomolov Jr. stunned Murray at the big Masters tournament in Miami five months ago.
The Australian Open runner-up Murray captured this Cincinnati Masters event in 2008.
Eighth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych booked a spot in Friday's quarterfinals by firing 11 aces in blasting ninth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes.
This week's winner will collect $496,000.
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