Rafa closes in on no. 1 rank

Rafael Nadal stayed on course to wrest the top ranking from Novak Djokovic by rallying for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Fabio Fognini of Italy in the China Open quarter-finals on Friday. Nadal, who needs to reach the final to have a chance of regaining no. 1 for the first time in two years, was down a set and a break but changed the tempo with a timely service break. Defending champion Djokovic progressed with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 win over American Sam Querry in just 53 minutes. Also, top-ranked Serena Williams brushed aside former no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 6-4 to raise her record to 6-1 against the Dane and set up a next-round clash with no. 4 Agnieszka Radwans-ka. Nadal seemed to struggle at times with a niggling left knee injury but wore down Fognini after that hard-fought service break in the seventh game of the second set. Fognini started fluently as he broke and led 3-0. He was soon leading 5-1 but failed to serve out and had to break Nadal again with a superb cross-court return to clinch the set. Fognini again ran up a 3-0 lead in the second and was serving with a lead of 4-2 before Nadal seized control. It was the third straight victory over Fognini for Nadal, who next plays fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.