The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Rafael Nadal enters last eight

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Friday, Apr 27, 2007
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Rafael Nadal enters last eight

BARCELONA : Rafael Nadal beat Thomas Johansson 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open tennis tournament.

The two-time defending champion was near perfect on his first serve, where the Spaniard hit 26 winners and dropped a single point. Nadal also broke the Swede four times to extended his unbeaten run on clay to 69 matches.

``I controlled the game in the first set but he played well in the second,'' said the winner. ``I tried not to let up after winning the first easily,

``It's unbelievable to win 69 on clay and it's especially nice to play here, where I have so much support.''

Nadal improved his Barcelona career record to 13-1, his lone loss coming in 2003 when he was beaten as a teenager in the second round by Alex Corretja.

Nadal will play Potito Starace after the Italian beat eighth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(10).

Starace saved five set points before forcing the second set tiebreaker that the Italian eventually won.

Ferrer advances

David Ferrer also advanced after beating Boris Pashanski of Serbia 6-2, 7-5.

The fifth-seeded Spaniard rallied from 4-1 down in the second set to set up a quarterfinal match against either former champion Carlos Moya or fourth-seeded David Nalbandian.

``I'd prefer to play Moya, because he is Spanish, a friend and a great person, and it would be great for the tournament to have an all-Spanish semifinal,'' said Ferrer, knowing the winner of his quarterfinal match-up could meet Nadal.

``It would be a joke to say that Rafa is not the favourite.''

The results: At Barcelona (ATP Tour Open Seat Godo): Third round: Rafael Nadal bt Thomas Johansson 6-1, 6-4; Potito Starace bt Juan Ignacio Chela bt 6-4, 7-6(10); David Ferrer bt Boris Pashanski 6-2, 7-5; Guillermo Canas bt Pablo Andujar 7-5, 6-3. Second round: David Ferrer bt Paul Goldstein 6-0, 6-0; Pablo Andujar bt Juan Carlos Ferrero 2-1, retd.; Thomas Johansson bt Robin Soderling 7-6(4), 7-6(2); Potito Starace bt Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-3; Carlos Moya bt Felix Mantilla 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Oscar Hernandez bt Benjamin Becker 6-1, 7-6(4); Rafael Nadal bt Kristof Vliegen 6-1, 6-2; Jarkko Nieminen bt Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-5; Guillermo Canas bt Jiri Vanek 6-1, 6-1; Boris Pashanski bt Andrei Pavel 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

At Budapest (WTA Budapest GP): Second round: Olga Savchuk w/o Tathiana Garbin; Sorana Cirstea bt Martina Muller 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Emily Loit bt Andreja Klepac 7-5, 7-5; Eleni Daniilidou bt Kristina Barrois 6-4, 6-2; Agnes Szavay bt Yulia Beygelzimer 6-3, 6-2; Anne Kremer bt Alberta Brianti 6-4, 6-1; Karin Knapp bt Karolina Sprem 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

At Casablanca (ATP Grand Prix Hassan II): Second round: Marc Gicquel bt Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-4; Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo bt Thierry Ascione 6-4, 7-6(4); Julien Benneteau bt Michael Russell 6-3, 6-3; Sebastien Grosjean bt Arnaud Clement 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. — Agencies

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