Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates victory against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during their men's singles quarter-final match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, east China, on Oct. 16, 2015. Rafael Nadal won 2-0. (Xinhua/Fan Jun)
SHANGHAI, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Rafael Nadal's growing confidence was clear for all to see as the Spaniard dismissed Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-1 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
Nadal might not have received the test he expected from a tired Wawrinka, who toiled for almost three hours on Thursday to overcome former US Open winner Marin Cilic.
The eighth seeded Spaniard, who reached the Beijing final last week, needed just 63 minutes to send the Swiss fourth seed crashing out.
"Being in the semifinals is a great result for me," said Nadal. "I hadn't played the semifinals on hard court all year and now I am playing two weeks in a row in the final rounds. That's a big improvement for me. In terms of confidence, in terms of level of tennis, I am playing better. Very happy for that because I am working so hard."
From 2-2 in the first set, Nadal started to surge and reel off nine straight games before Wawrinka chalked up a game in the second set to avoid a bagel.
Having lost his past two contests with Wawrinka, Nadal improved to a 13-2 overall head-to-head record against the Roland Garros champion.
As he looks to reach his sixth ATP World Tour final of the season, the Spaniard will face Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom he has beaten in eight of their past 11 meetings.
"It is a court that he likes to play on," said Nadal. "The court is quick. He feels comfortable on these surfaces because he has a huge serve, very, very good forehand. He likes to hit the serve and then hit the forehand and go to the net. He's a very competitive player. When he's in the semifinals it's because he's playing well. So it will be a very tough match.
"I hope to play well, keep doing like every day, playing a little bit better every day. I hope tomorrow to continue with that improvement," he added.
