Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will face off in a much-anticipated rematch at the $3.6 million Pacific Life Open after both players advanced to the semifinals on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Spaniard owns a 6-2 edge in the all-time series against the 2008 Australian Open champion and will face Djokovic for the seventh time since their encounter here in 2007.Nadal needed just over two hours to move on, posting his first victory in four career matches against Blake.

The world No. 2 struggled against Blake’s serve, winning just 23 percent (10-of-43) of first-return points. However, Nadal stepped up when necessary, breaking Blake’s serve on three occasions while saving 6-of-8 break points. With the loss, Blake, who was ousted in the final here by world No. 1 Roger Federer in 2006, fell to 30-9 lifetime against lefthanded players.

Meanwhile, Djokovic continued his stellar play against Wawrinka and has yet to lose a set in four matches here. Djokovic blasted seven aces and won 74 percent (32-of-43) of first-serve points - including all 15 in the second set - against Wawrinka.

The 22-year-old Wawrinka, who managed to save 10-of-15 break points during the two-hour match, fell to 3-2 in the all-time series against Djokovic but was not disappointed with his performance. The first prize is $555,000.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm and is filed under Tennis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.