Nadal Through After Djokovic Injury

Reigning champion Rafael Nadal progressed to the last four of the French Open after quarter-final opponent Novak Djokovic withdrew midway through their match with an injury.

The Spaniard had been leading 6-4, 6-4 and 40-15 on Djokovic's serve in the opening game of the third set when the young Serbian pulled out with a lower back problem.

Nadal, the defending champion at Roland Garros, will now play either fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia or unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the semi-finals.

"At the beginning of the second set I had the feeling he was injured," said Nadal, who has now gone 58 consecutive matches unbeaten on clay. "I think it is a very tough tournament with a lot of long matches, but I'm not tired. I feel good and now I have to concentrate on the semi-final."

Djokovic had never been beyond the third round of a grand slam before and ousted three seeds on his way to the last eight but he lost his opening two service games against Nadal and never recovered. "I was only serving at 40 or 50 percent maximum," he admitted. "I don't think it would have been good for me to continue playing with the pain in my back. This is not the only tournament in the year."

He added optimistically: "I think I had control of the match. I just didn't finish it in the right way when I needed to."