Nadal battles Chardy in Vina del Mar semis

The Rafael Nadal comeback train gained steam on Friday and it is back on the track for Vina del Mar semifinal action on Saturday. Standing in Nadal’s way of the title match is Jeremy Chardy.

Rafael Nadal and Jeremy Chardy will be going head-to-head for the very first time in their careers when they collide in the semifinals of the VTR Open on Saturday.

At first glance this seems to be just the right time for Chardy to get his first-ever shot at the 11-time Grand Slam champion. After all, Nadal has been sidelined for more than seven months due to knee problems. Then again, there is never a good time to face the seven-time French Open winner on clay.

Furthermore, Nadal already has four matches under his belt in Vina del Mar–all victories. He is through to the semifinals of both singles and doubles (alongside partner Juan Monaco). The top-seeded Spaniard opened his singles campaign on Wednesday by defeating Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-2 and he followed that up with an even better quarterfinal performance against Daniel Gimeno-Traver that led to a 6-1, 6-4 win.

“Today I had more confidence than the other days,” Nadal said on Friday. “That is positive. It gives me confidence and reasons to believe that I’m on the right way. I’m happy to win in singles against a tough opponent like Dani and to reach the semifinals after seven months.”

Chardy is playing stellar tennis and could be Nadal’s toughest test of the entire week. The 26th-ranked Frenchman lost in the first round of his first two tournaments in 2013, but he promptly reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open. So far this week he has dismissed 16-year-old wild card Christian Garin and No. 6 seed Paolo Lorenzi.

Although Chardy would have a real chance under these circumstances on a hard court, it should be a different story on clay. The third seed will not be able to win enough free points with big serves and one-two punches and will instead be forced into numerous baseline rallies.

Pick: Nadal 6-4, 6-3

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