Black Tennis Pros

DOHA, Qatar, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Frenchman Gael Monfils slammed seven aces and made three service breaks Thursday to knock world No. 1 and top-seed Rafael Nadal out of the Qatar Open .

Monfils, the tournament's fifth seed, disposed of the Spaniard in a little less than an hour and a half and moved on to the semifinals.

The Frenchman, who in three previous meetings had failed to win more than three games in a set against Nadal, produced some excellent tennis and broke the Nadal serve on three occasions in a match lasting 89 minutes.

It was Nadal's first defeat in a completed match prior to the semifinals since May 2008, when he fell to Juan-Carlos Ferrero in the second round at the ATP World Masters event in Rome.

The 22-year-old Monfils is bidding to reach his second final in Doha, having finished runner-up to Roger Federer in the title match in 2006.