Nadal wins quarterfinal match at Rio Open

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal overcame the stiffest test so far in his first clay-court tournament of the season, defeating No.

6 Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 to reach the semifinals of the Rio Open.

The match ended at 3:21 in the morning local time on Saturday -more than 14 hours after the tournament opened play on Friday, as organizers scheduled all five top matches on center court, and they all went to three sets.

Cuevas collapsed in the final set, and as his game broke down fans began to jeer, which angered him more, prompting him to take a few wild swings in the last two sets with balls sailing high and wide.

This is Nadal’s first event on clay since last year, a welcome change after losing last month on hardcourts in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, and being beaten in the first round in Qatar on hardcourts.

On the women’s side, top-seeded Sara Errani of Italy reached the semifinals after Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil retired in the deciding third set.

Haddad Maia, who won took the first set, stopped with the score 3-6, 7-6 (2), 3-0 in Errani’s favor.