Nadal, Ljubicic in semis

Big-serving Ivan Ljubicic powered into his first Grand Slam semi-final when he ended French hope Julien Benneteau’s run at the French Open...

Big-serving Ivan Ljubicic powered into his first Grand Slam semi-final when he ended French hope Julien Benneteau’s run at the French Open with a clinical 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win on Wednesday.

Benneteau held serve for the first time when he levelled at 2-2 in the second set, only for Ljubicic to win the next four games and seal a two-set lead.

The Croatian decisively broke to love for 4-2 in the decider when Benneteau double-faulted, before wrapping up the match after two hours 14 minutes.

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The result means it will be the first time since 1985 that the French Open semi-finals will feature all four top seeds.

The Croatian fourth seed will face defending champion Rafael Nadal for a place in the final. Nadal coasted into the semi-finals after his Serbian opponent Novak Djokovic retired injured when trailing by two sets to love in their

quarter-final.

Djokovic, 19, needed treatment for a back problem during the match, and quit at 15-30 in the first game of the third set having lost the first two 6-4, 6-4.

Nadal is only a year older than Djokovic but physically it was man against boy as the heavily muscled Mallorcan asserted his authority on centre court.

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Djokovic had never been beyond the third round of a Grand Slam before and ousted three seeds on his way to the last eight.

The Spaniard lost his first service game before controlling the opening set. He was soon 4-1 up in the second with Djokovic needing a medical timeout to treat his back and his left thigh. The Serbian bravely broke back for 2-4 but an errant backhand cost him the set.

Lee-Maria loses

n Meanwhile in the mixed doubles quarter-final Leander Paes and his Russian partner Maria Kirilenko lost in straight sets 3-6, 3-6 to sixth seeds Martina Navratilova and Bob Bryan.

Bill Barclay