Nadal beats Chela to reach semi-finals

INDIAN WELLS, California, Mar 16 (Reuters) Second seed Rafael Nadal out-fought Juan Ignacio Chela 7-5 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the Pacific Life Open yesterday.

In a tight contest where both men launched huge stokes from the baseline, twice French Open champion Nadal was much more secure competing in the big points.

The Spaniard forced the Argentine into a backhand error to break him to 6-5 in the second set and won the match when Chela committed a backhand error.

Nadal will face the winner of the match between third seed Andy Roddick of the US and eight-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

REUTRS AD PM0611