Youzhny shocks Nadal

While unforced errors crept into Nadal's game rather more than is generally the case, it was the Youzhny forehand that decided the match, remaining sublime from start to finish.

The Russian continued from where he left off in his straight set dismantling of Tommy Robredo in the last 16, taking the first set 6-3, while Nadal struggled to find his best form.

The second set was a more tightly contested affair, with both players matching each other almost stroke for stroke until Nadal seized the initiative, breaking his opponent at 5-6 and closing out the set.

The world number two failed, though, to impose himself on the match, spending the majority of the time well behind the baseline, and struggling to chase down his opponent's punishing groundstrokes.

In truth, one of the key moments of the match came in the third set tie-break, and swung momentum firmly the way of Youzhny. Nadal had battled back from 4-2 down at the change of ends to lead 5-4, before a backhand hit from the baseline struck the top of the net cord and looped high, landing agonizingly beyond the baseline.

He gave a wry smile, before Youzhny fired down an ace to bring up setpoint, which he duly converted to lead move a set ahead once again.

While it may from the scoreline that this stroke of misfortune knocked the wind from Nadal's sails, this was not the case. The Spaniard continued to grit his teeth, and frequently pumped his fists to fire himself back into the match.

Youzhny was on a roll, and continued to hit winners with impressive frequency. He raced through the first five games of the fifth set to effectively put the match beyond any doubt.

Nadal continued to fight, and held serve at 5-1 to prevent a final-set whitewash, but Youzhny closed the match out a game later.

He will now meet the winner of Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt in last four.