Masala News

David Nalbandian capitalized on an uncommonly error-prone Rafael Nadal and beat the second-ranked Spaniard 6-1, 6-2 on Friday to reach the semifinals at the Madrid Masters.

Nadal, playing in his first tournament in five weeks to treat tendinitis in both knees, hit five winners but had 29 unforced errors against Nalbandian.

“It’s not an easy match to analyze. It’s hard to play worse, which makes it a lot easier to go forward from this,” Nadal said. “I didn’t go in with a clear enough idea of the match I wanted to play.”

It was Nadal’s most lopsided loss since Julien Benneteau beat him 6-3, 6-0 in Lyon three years ago.

“I took advantage of all of Rafa’s bad shots,” Nalbandian said. “I think Rafa never felt comfortable out there.”

The BSE Sensex ended a dramatic week with a further 438-point slide on Friday, as foreign investors turned heavy sellers during the day. The Sensex has lost about 1,500 points since Monday when it hit a new all-time high of 19,096. It finally settled at 17,560 after staying in the red through Friday’s trading session.