Nadal fights back to reach semis

Rafael Nadal battled back from the brink of defeat to beat Italian Fabio Fognini and reach the semi-finals of the China Open. The Spaniard was a set and 4-1 down, but recovered to win 2-6 6-4 6-1 and extend his unbeaten run to 20 matches. Nadal, 27, will regain the world number one ranking if he beats fourth seed Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals. Continue reading the main story “It is not the moment to think about number one” Rafael Nadal Current world number one Novak Djokovic willlay French fifth seed Richard Gasquet in the other semi. Djokovic, the defending champion, swept past American Sam Querrey 6-1 6-2, while Gasquet defeated Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer 6-3 6-4 and Berdych beat eighth seed John Isner of the US 7-5 6-2. A return to the number one ranking for the first time since July 2011 was looking unlikely for Nadal after he lost the first set against Fognini and was just a point away from trailing 5-1 in the second. But the Mallorca-born left-hander - who looked to be struggling with his knee at one point - rediscovered his form, relinquishing just one more game to the world number 19 on his way into the final four. Nadal is enjoying one of his best years despite missing the Australian Open with a knee injury, and he remains unbeaten on hard courts in 2013 having won his 12th Grand Slam title at the US Open last month. On the possibility of replacing Djokovic as world number one, he said: "It's something that doesn't create more pressure for me. "It's something that already happened in the past. If that happens again, it will be good, it will be special for me."