Nadal, Djokovic eye rematch at Rogers Cup

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are nearing another showdown.

The second-seeded Nadal on Friday will face No. 10 Richard Gasquet of France while Djokovic, seeded third, clashes with No. 8 Andy Murray of Great Britain in quarterfinal action at the Rogers Cup.

Should Nadal and Djokovic manage to advance to the semifinals of this hardcourt tournament, the pair will square off for the fifth time this season. Nadal, the world No. 2 for a record 157 weeks, holds a 9-3 lead in the all-time series with the Serb and has taken three of four encounters this season.

The third-ranked Djokovic, who defeated the Spaniard in the semifinals here a year ago en route to the title, is no doubt salivating at the chance to play Nadal on this surface.

Following his third title of the season at Rome, Djokovic was ousted from three consecutive events by Nadal, who won claycourt semifinal clashes in Hamburg and Roland Garros in addition to a showdown on grass in the Queen’s Club final.

An accomplished hardcourt player and the Australian Open champion, Djokovic was in position to steal the No. 2 ranking away from Nadal in two of those meetings but failed to capitalize.

Nadal has since put some room between himself and Djokovic, having won his last four tournaments, including his fourth consecutive French Open crown and his first Wimbledon championship.

The 22-year-old now has his sights set on top-ranked Roger Federer, who could find himself looking up to Nadal as early as next week in Cincinnati.

Nadal will be gunning for his 27th straight victory on Friday when he faces Gasquet, who is winless in four matches against the lefthander.

Djokovic has enjoyed identical success against Murray, posting a 4-0 mark, and has taken 19 of the last 24 games played against the Scot.

The semifinal on the opposite side of the draw was set earlier Friday and will pit Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer against Frenchman Gilles Simon in a battle of unseeded players.

Kiefer knocked off seventh-seeded James Blake with surprising ease, needing just an hour to down the American, 6-1, 6-2, while Simon continued one of the best stretches of his career with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

Upsets have been the norm for the 31-year-old Kiefer at this event as he also topped fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko and No. 15 Mikhail Youzhny prior to ousting Blake, who has gone 11 months without a title.

A former world No. 4 currently ranked 37th, Kiefer has not won a title since 2000 and is bidding to reach his first final since 2005.

He’ll have his hands full in the semis against the 22nd-ranked Simon, who captured his fourth career title on Sunday in Indianapolis and has won nine straight matches, including an upset of Federer in the second round of this event.

First prize is $420,000.

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