• French Open, Day 11

Nadal: I needed some luck against Almagro

Rafael Nadal © Getty Images

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Murray punished by Ferrer
Nadal marches on
Sharapova sets up Kvitova showdown

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Defending champion Rafael Nadal marched on in Paris with a straight sets victory over Nicolas Almagro, but he admitted he was lucky not to drop a set.

"I was lucky in my opinion the last set," Nadal said. "He had a few opportunities with my serve to have the break, but I was a little bit lucky and able to save it and after, with my second or third chance, I did and closed the match. I'm sorry for Nicolas. He's a great player. He's doing a fantastic season, and I wish him all the best for the rest."

Andy Murray admitted he failed to make the most of his chances as he bowed out with defeat to David Ferrer.

"He had his chances and converted them," Murray said. "He's solid and consistent and if you don't convert opportunities against him, the games become longer and the pressure builds on you. But it was a good tournament for me. I felt better coming in this year than I did last year. I lost to a better claycourt player tonight. There are things to work on but I knew it would be a tough match."

When pressed on who he thought would go on to win the tournament, Murray replied: "I think the four best claycourt players in the world are left in and whoever plays best will win. [I'd] probably have to favour Rafa slightly, but everyone is playing very, very well."

Nadal will meet another Spaniard, Ferrer, in the semi-finals after the sixth seed beat Murray.

"It will be a tough match against Rafa, he's the best in history on this surface, but I hope to have a good match," Ferrer said. "Tonight's match was very hard, physically very difficult. But I am happy to be in the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the first time."

Maria Sharapova is loving life in Paris after reaching the semi-finals for a third time with victory over Kaia Kanepi.

"What girl doesn't love Paris?" she said. Who wouldn't want that lifestyle? It's great to me. I could eat at L'Avenue every single day, have the escargot and the little strawberries they have for dessert, gain like 20 pounds. But that's all right. They walk everywhere and they bike. That would help. I love coming back here, love challenging myself to get further every year and I hope this is the year.

Petra Kvitova, who defeated Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6 6-2 6-4, admitted she was relieved to have come through a gruelling encounter.

"I was very nervous at the beginning and was making some easy mistakes - she also started very well. But I knew I had to change my game and had to be the aggressive one going for the points. The games were close but I'm happy I won the big points. I was fighting hard today - I couldn't give up. Every point that we played was really tough. It wasn't easy and I'm really happy that my serve helped me and I played my aggressive game again."

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