Tennis: Nadal rallies to set up all-Spanish semi in Rome

ROME - Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal saw off the challenge of the Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek 5-7 6-1 6-1 to reach the Rome Masters semi-finals on Friday.

The fifth seed's victory meant Spain will have at least one representative in Sunday's final as Nadal next faces unseeded compatriot David Ferrer, who saved four match points on his way to a 6-2 3-6 7-5 win over Alberto Martin.

In the other half of the draw, Andre Agassi remains on course to reclaim the title he won in 2002 after cruising past Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 6-3 6-3.

The 35-year-old American sixth seed has not dropped a set in the tournament and next faces Argentine ninth seed Guillermo Coria, who wore down Fernando Verdasco 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Nadal, who has won four of his six claycourt tournaments this year, including the Monte Carlo Masters, began as clear favourite against a player who had never progressed beyond the third round in Rome.

The match started according to the form book, with the 18-year-old Nadal dominating from the back of the court. When he served for the set in the 10th game, however, Stepanek conjured up a crosscourt pass and a dropshot winner to break back.

The Czech was out-thinking his opponent, drawing Nadal into the net in the 12th game before dispatching a forehand winner down the line and using the same tactic on the next point to claim the first set.

Nadal, who had dropped only eight games in his previous three matches, seemed unconcerned by going a set down and quickly regrouped to race through the second in just over half an hour.

Stepanek tried to fight his way back into contention in the decider, but was undermined by unforced errors. He started netting dropshots and mistiming approaches to the net and in the fourth game a wild volley gave Nadal the break of serve he needed to close out the contest.

"It was a complicated match. I didn't serve well at the end of the first set, but I'm pleased with the way I held myself together," Nadal told reporters.

Agassi's quarter-final opponent Hrbaty played well to knock out Britain's Tim Henman in the previous round, but never came to grips with the swirling wind and committed a series of unforced errors to give the American a break of serve in the fifth game.

The second set was a more see-saw affair, involving five breaks of serve. Agassi eventually seized control in the eighth game when Hrbaty put a backhand over the baseline.

His game against Coria promises to be a much tougher test. The Argentine reached the final at Roland Garros last year.

Asked whether he felt comfortable enough on clay to take on one of the surface's acknowledged masters, Agassi replied: "I think I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be. The last few matches have given me a chance to understand where my game is and what I need to do.

"To go out and execute (your shots) is more difficult against guys of the calibre of Coria or Nadal.

"But it also helps because you know you have one thing in mind, which is to play your best tennis, because you have no choice. So I look forward to that."

- REUTERS