Rafa Beats Youzhny, Sets up Murray Quaterfinal in Rome

Last night, Rafa Nadal had to dig deep to get past an inspired Gilles Simon in the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Nadal, who is aiming to win the tournament for the eighth time, was taken to two tie-breaks before finally wearing down his opponent in the final set to win 7-6, 6-7, 6-2. Earlier today he came from a set down to see off former top 10 player Mikhail Youzhny less than 20 hours after the marathon on Wednesday night. The Spaniard will next face Any Murray for the first time in three years. Continue reading for a gallery from today’s game or head over to the gallery for more pics.