Nadal Rolls to Semifinals by Thrashing Robredo

Nadal, who has played as well as anyone on hardcourts this summer, continued to exert his dominance at the Open, serving notice Wednesday night with another near-perfect win. He cruised into the semifinals by thrashing his fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2, in 1 hour 40 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium. 

The dream quarterfinal matchup between Nadal and Roger Federer was replaced by a mismatch between the second-seeded Nadal and the No. 19 seed Robredo.

Rafael Nadal survived an early scare

ARIS -- Rafael Nadal survived an early scare and successfully began his bid for an eighth French Open title by rallying past Daniel Brands of Germany, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3.