Nadal overpowers Moya to reach semi-finals

PARIS, June 6 (Reuters) Defending champion Rafael Nadal pummelled fellow-Spaniard Carlos Moya into submission at the French Open today to reach the semi-finals with a crushing 6-4 6-3 6-0 victory.

Thirty-year-old Moya, the 1998 champion, was overpowered by a player nine years his junior on Centre Court where his game no match for Nadal's brutal strength.

The close friends swapped breaks early in the first set, but once Nadal broke again to lead 4-3 and the match quickly slipped away from Moya.

Nadal broke twice to take the second set and the third was a formality. Nadal will play Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the last four in the next stage of his quest for a hat-trick of French titles.

REUTERS BJR RK2108