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Nadal beats Chela

Barcelona: Rafael Nadal rescued his dream of a fourth straight trophy at the Barcelona Open, turning the first-set tide to swamp Juan Chela 6-4, 6-2 on Friday in their quarterfinal.

Spain’s World No. 2 wore an uncharacteristic look of frustration trailing an early break against the baseline grafter from Argentina, ranked 37th with four career titles.

Herculean effort

Down 4-2, Nadal put in a Herculean effort in the marathon 20-minute eighth game, forcing Chela to fight off three break points over the course of eight deuces.

Nadal finally got what he wanted on his fourth effort when Chela netted a backhand, 3-4.

From then on, the three-time Barcelona holder took control, wrapping up the set in 64 minutes and breaking to start the second on way to victory in one hour, 42 minutes.

“When Chela had points for 5-2, it was tough,” said the treble Roland Garros champion. “But it was more manageable at 3-4 instead.”

Nadal will play in a Saturday semifinal against either tenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro or German surprise packet Denis Gremelmayr, who beat fourth seed James Blake.

Gonzalez beats Safin

At Munich, Fernando Gonzalez beat Marat Safin 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semifinals of the BMW Open. Gonzalez was joined by Simone Bolelli and Younes El Aynaoui.

The results: At Barcelona: ATP Sabadell Atlantico Open: Quarterfinals: Rafael Nadal bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-2; David Ferrer bt Tommy Robredo 7-6(4), 6-4; Stanislas Wawrinka bt Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4.

At Munich: ATP BMW Open: Quarterfinals: Simone Bolelli bt Lee Hyung-taik 6-4 7-6(3); Younes El Aynaoui bt Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez bt Marat Safin 6-3, 7-5.

At Prague: WTA Prague Open: Quarterfinals: Klara Zakopalova bt Shahar Peer 7-6(5), 6-2; Katarina Srebotnik bt Iveta Benesova 7-5, 4-6, 6-2; Victoria Azarenka bt Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 6-1; Vera Zvonareva bt Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-2. — Agencies

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