Nadal cruises into French Open semi-finals as Soderling routed

(Reuters) - Rafa Nadal cranked up his bid for a record-equaling sixth French Open title by routing his nemesis Robin Soderling 6-4 6-1 7-6 Wednesday to power into the semi-finals.

The world number one has bemoaned his lackluster form on clay over the last two weeks but was back to his dominant self in all areas.

Fifth seed Soderling, who inflicted Nadal’s only men’s singles defeat at the French Open in 2009 before losing to the Spaniard in last year’s final, barely got a look-in despite breaking twice.

Nadal was playing shots he would not have attempted just a few days ago when his confidence was brittle while Soderling, staying glued to the baseline too often, also played into the champion’s hands.