Ljubicic rallies to grab semis spot at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, California (AFP) -- Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic rallied to beat Juan Monaco 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 yesterday to reach the semi-finals of the Indian Wells ATP Masters 1000.

A day after his victory over world number two Novak Djokovic, Ljubicic showed no sign of a letdown.

The former world number three, now ranked 26th in the world, scattered 11 aces through the one hour, 47 minute contest, finishing it off with three service winners.

Ljubicic, who celebrates his 31st birthday today, improved on his best 2010 performance to date -- a quarter-final run at Dubai last month. The last time he made it as far as the semi-finals in a prestigious Masters 1000 event was in Miami in 2007.

In the semi-finals Ljubicic will face either defending champion and third seed Rafael Nadal or Czech Tomas Berdych, who were to square off last night.

Nadal has won six of his nine career meetings with Berdych, his most recent victory coming in Spain's 5-0 triumph over the Czech Republic in the 2009 Davis Cup final.

Berdych has had a solid start to the season, reaching the semi-finals in Brisbane and quarter-finals in San Jose and Memphis. Nadal said the Czech's third- and fourth-round results here -- quick straight-sets wins over Ferno Verdasco and Victor Troicki -- showed he was playing well.

"It's going to be a really difficult match," Nadal predicted.

Nadal is playing his first tournament since retiring with a knee injury trailing Andy Murray in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

"I am playing well," Nadal said after withstanding 22 aces from American John Isner in a fourth-round victory.

"I am very happy to be in the quarter-finals. It's very good news for me after the injury to come back and play like this. I am feeling OK physically, no? I am feeling really well, and I am feeling good on court," he said.

In women's action, sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic led the way into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Russian Alisa Kleybanova.

Jankovic will face the winner of the night match between eighth-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia and Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

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