Rafael Nadal was anxious to rip through his first Wimbledon quarter-final yesterday against Finland's Jarko Nieminen and spare his energy for today's Centre Court semi-final. The young Spaniard, who now faces the Australian Open finalist, Marcos Baghdatis, following Roger Federer's meeting with Jonas Bjorkman today, didn't even get to court on Wednesday as rain delayed matches all day, forcing the two players to come back yesterday to sort it out on Court One.

Both left handers were contesting their first Wimbledon quarter-final and although the match was hard fought, it was Nadal who was always in control and driving it towards an inevitable three set 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Although Nieminen had pressed Nadal hard in Barcelona earlier this year, leading 6-1, 4-1 before the Spaniard reeled off seven straight games to turn the match, his return of serve at no time threatened the 20-year-old number two seed. Nadal was able to hold his service games with ease and consistently attack Nieminen on his, which had the 24-year-old Finn scrambling under pressure for most of the time.

Nadal, who is desperate to prove himself on grass in the same way he has on clay, is the first Roland Garros champion to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon in the same year since Andre Agassi did it in 1999.

"It was important for me to play a fast match," he said afterwards. "I was very concentrated. I knew that to finish fast would be important for tomorrow."

But in Baghdatis, he now meets a player who has generated an impressive body of momentum with his win over Lleyton Hewitt in the last round catapulting him towards his first Wimbledon semi-final as well as celebrity status.

The first Cypriot to progress this far in a Grand Slam event has also demonstrated an ability to gear up his game for the big stage and use the occasion to help, not hinder his chances. Cheered on by a willing mother and brood of siblings, Baghdatis goes into the match with the distinct advantage of having little to prove and nothing to lose with a likely meeting with Federer in the final as the prize.

For Nieminen, however, his moment of glory evaporated over two hours and 17 minutes. A break of serve in the fourth game of the first set, the ninth game of the second set and seventh game of the third was the simple formula Nadal used to have his way.

"He puts a lot of first serves in. I returned really badly today. So many times I hit short and he's already in the point. He can control the point after that," said Nieminen.

"Of course he's a tough opponent but at the same time I'm disappointed how I played. I think this was my worst match here."

While Nadal has denied outright the allegations in a French newspaper that he was named on a list when Spanish authorities raided premises that allegedly distributed drugs to athletes, the affair continues.

The player was again asked if the allegations had affected his concentration in any way. When the issue arose, however, a translator not Nadal stepped in to answer the questions.

"He has spoken about that (name being on a list). He has said everything he has to say about it and it's not going to affect him because he knows he is completely innocent," said the official. "It hasn't been difficult because he's never taken anything in his life and he never will."

Yesterday's Results

Men's Singles

Quarter-final: (2) Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt (22) Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) 6-3 6-4 6-4

Women's Singles

Semi-final: (1) Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt (4) Maria Sharapova (Rus) 6-3 3-6 6-2 , (3) Justine Henin - Hardenne (Bel) bt (2) Kim Clijsters (Bel) 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

Men's Doubles

Quarter-final: (6) Fabrice Santoro (Fra) & Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt (2) Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) & Max Mirnyi (Blr) 6-4 6-4 6-4.

Women's Doubles

Quarter-finals: Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa), Paola Suarez (Arg) bt (10) Eleni Daniilidou (Gre), Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spa) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 9-7, Juliana Fedak (Ukr), Tatiana Perebiynis (Ukr) bt (5) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger), Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4, (4) Zi Yan (Chn), Jie Zheng (Chn) bt (7) Liezel Huber (Rsa), Martina Navratilova (USA) 4-6 6-4 6-0.