Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball to Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia during their Qatar Open men's singles tennis match in Doha, Qatar January 7, 2016. Reuters/Ibraheem Al Omari

Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinal round of the 2016 Qatar Exxonmobil Open in Doha, setting up a clash with Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko.

Nadal is up for a solid start of the 2016 season earning a semifinal round spot at the 2016 Qatar Open following a tight match win over Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov, 6-3 5-7 6-4. The “King of Clay” needed two hours and eight minutes to finish off Kuznetsov, converting five of his 10 break point chances.

“It’s true that I missed my serve more than I wanted to, but I really only played one bad game, at 4-3 in the second set,” Nadal told ATP’s official website. “His returns were amazing and his level was very high. Fortunately I played a great third set, with a lot of intensity.”

Nadal, the 2014 Qatar Open champion, admitted he has been watching Marchenko through the whole week of the tournament. Nadal acknowledged that the Marchenko, ranked as world No. 94, is playing with “big confidence” after defeating defending champion David Ferrer in the first round, and overcoming Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 7-6(3) to reach the semifinal stage.

"I saw him play during the whole week," Nadal said, reports USA Today. "He's playing fantastic. The match against David was great, and today against Jeremy he played amazing, too.”

Meanwhile, top seed Novak Djokovic is also competing in the semifinal round at the Qatar Open after dispatching Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, 6-3 7-5. Djokovic will face third-seed Tomas Berdych, who only needed two straight sets to claim victory over Kyle Edmund, 6-3 6-2.

Match time for the 2016 Qatar Open semifinal round between Nadal and Marchenko will be at 2:30 a.m, Saturday AEDT.

Live streaming info and live score updates

Catch all the action of the 2016 Qatar Open Exxonmobil live via TennisTV. Live score updates will be available on ATP’s official website.

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