Nadal sees off Söderling challenge

Defending champion Rafael Nadal took another firm step toward matching Björn Borg's record of six French Open titles on Wednesday as he dispatched fifth-seed Robin Söderling 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros. Expectations were high that Nadal would face his sternest examination yet at the 2011 tournament, a sentiment echoed by the world number one himself. Söderling, after all, is the sole member of a very elite club, being the only player to have beaten Nadal in the French capital.

A swirling breeze made conditions uncomfortable for both players: Nadal paused on serve in the fourth game as the Parisian puff swept crushed red brick into his scowling face. Söderling, meanwhile, displayed a more thunderous countenance as Nadal's hurricane ground strokes swiftly set the scene for a reworking of last year's final, when the Spaniard converted four of 12 break-point opportunities while not allowing Söderling a sniff of retribution on his own serve.

The world number one raced to a 3-0 lead in the first. Söderling, though, broke back, hitting 14 winners in the first set to Nadal's four but misfiring in equal measure, splaying 15 unforced errors across Court Philippe Chatrier. Much has been made of the French Open's switch from the Dunlop to the faster Babolat balls, with Novak Djokovic observing that they should favor the big-hitters and heavy servers. However, players have complained that the Babolats are much harder to control.

As the second set unfolded, a thrashing appeared on the cards as Nadal mercilessly deployed his clay-court armory, breaking Söderling three times and wrapping it up in 32 minutes. Nadal would not have the third all his own way as Söderling ground out a rhythm and carved five break-point opportunities - three of them at 5-5 - and forced a tie-break. Nadal, unfazed, played a solid decider and, more importantly for his overall challenge, won a third consecutive match in straight sets after a wholly unconvincing pair of early-round encounters. "I am very happy, to play against Robin is always difficult," Nadal said. "I played better than I have on other days. I played a very good level today and Robin maybe made more mistakes than usual."

In Friday's semifinals, the top four seeds will face off against each other, with Andy Murray Nadal's opponent. The Scot also progressed without dropping a set to Juan Ignacio Chela after his colossal fourth-round comeback against Viktor Troiki, the fifth time the world number four had come from two sets down to claim victory.