Nadal wins tie-break shoot-out against Karlovic

Rafael Nadal survived a barrage of aces from Ivo Karlovic on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Queen's Club ATP tournament for the first time.

The top seed saw 35 aces fly past his racket but showed plenty of grasscourt skills of his own to sneak through with a 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 victory to face defending champion Andy Roddick in the semi-finals.

Roddick was not even required to take to the court on Friday after his quarter-final opponent Andy Murray withdrew with a thumb injury sustained the previous day against Ernests Gulbis.

Nadal, who demolished everybody he faced at Roland Garros to win his fourth French Open title without dropping a set, was taken the distance for the second day running after his tussle with Japan's Kei Nishikori on Thursday.

Karlovic, the tallest player on the tour at 2.08m, has the most feared serve in tennis and used it to full effect to blunt the Spanish claycourt king's normal game.

Nadal only had two break points in the whole match, both of which he failed to take. However, his own swinging left-handed delivery was equally impressive as Karlovic was denied even one break opportunity of his own.

With serving so dominant on the lush turf the match was always going to be decided by odd points and so it proved.

Karlovic, the oldest player left in the draw at 29, forged into a 6-3 lead in the first set tiebreak and although Nadal clawed it back to 6-5, the giant Croat boomed down an unplayable first serve to take the opener.

Nadal got his nose in front in the day's second tiebreak, gaining two set points with a curling forehand winner after a reflex return off the Karlovic serve. He levelled the match when Karlovic sent a forehand long.

Karlovic, who made his name with a first-round defeat of reigning champion Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2003, fended off two break points at 2-2 in the decider but Nadal pounced in the inevitable tiebreaker.

Another sizzling forehand gave him the advantage and he made no mistake at 6-4, wrapping up victory on his first match point after two hours 24 minutes.

Hewitt, who like Roddick is looking for a record fifth title at the west London club, was up against second seed Novak Djokovic in later play while the remaining quarter-final featured David Nalbandian and Richard Gasquet.