January 25, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 05, 1428

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MELBOURNE, Jan 24: Second seed Rafael Nadal was put to the sword by the dashing blade of Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in a huge upset in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Gonzalez, the 10th seed, blazed into the semi-finals with a sublime 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the Spaniard, who joined third seed Nikolay Davydenko on his way out of the tournament after the Russian lost in five sets to German Tommy Haas.

In stark contrast to the swaggering Gonzalez, women's top seed Maria Sharapova and No 4 Kim Clijsters staggered into the last four with scrappy quarter-final victories.

Clijsters dug deep to make light of 62 unforced errors and see off her good friend Martina Hingis 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 while Sharapova dogged it out to beat fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze 7-6, 7-5.

Gonzalez was in inspired form from the start against Nadal, serving up 10 aces to destroy the world No 2 and reach his first grand slam semi-final.

The Chilean, who knocked out home favourite Lleyton Hewitt and fifth seed James Blake on his way to the last eight, produced a dazzling array of 41 winners mainly with his scintillating forehand.

Gonzalez, 26, sped to victory in two hours five minutes and Nadal, who had beaten German Philipp Kohlschreiber and Briton Andy Murray in long night matches on Rod Laver Arena, simply had no answer to his opponent's bewildering attacking repertoire.

“Tonight I played really unbelievable tennis and I hope to continue in this way,” Gonzalez said in a courtside interview.

The match between Clijsters and sixth seed Hingis never lived up to expectations in terms of quality, and the Belgian needed great determination to extend her last Australian Open campaign with victory over the three-times former champion.

“The only thing I did well today was I fought and I tried,” Clijsters told reporters.

“I wasn't really seeing the ball. All you can do is fight and hope you can turn things around and I did.

“I have to be sharp against Maria, she's an incredible athlete and fights for every point. Hopefully, I will hit less than 62 unforced errors.”

Hingis looked on course to beat Clijsters for the first time since 2002 when she took the first set and she had the Belgian on the ropes in the second.

Clijsters had not dropped a set in her march to the quarter-finals but she simply could not shake off the Swiss as a stream of unforced errors and double faults flew off her racket.

But roared on by the crowd Clijsters gradually asserted herself and played a succession of deft drop shots to tire out an opponent three years her senior.

Hingis ran out of steam in the third set and Clijsters pounced, sealing victory in just over two hours with a forehand winner down the line.

The 19-year-old Sharapova, who will be world number one next week, was broken twice in each set and failed to find any rhythm against her 12th-seeded compatriot.

“I thought I was up and down, a bit scratchy,” Sharapova said after dispatching her third fellow countrywoman in an unconvincing run to the last four where she meets Clijsters.

Unseeded American Serena Williams, twice former champion at Melbourne Park, plays Czech 10th seed Nicole Vaidisova in the other semi-final on Thursday.

Haas wore down relentless Russian Davydenko 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 in three hours 19 minutes to reach the semi-finals at Melbourne Park for the third time where he will play Gonzalez.

Haas, the 12th seed and former world number two, looked to be heading out when Davydenko broke him early in the deciding set but the German took a leaf out of Clijsters's book, saving a match point at 4-5 and breaking back twice to stun the 25-year-old Russian.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match going in,” the 28-year-old said. “I wanted revenge for the US Open quarter-final when he beat me. That hurt me a lot. I don't know how I did it, I'm so happy.”

World number one Roger Federer meets sixth seed Andy Roddick in the other men's semi-final on Thursday.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

Quarter-finals: 12-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat 3-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5; 10-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

Women’s singles:

Quarter-finals: 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat 6-Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; 1-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat 12-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.—Reuters