Rafael Nadal’s clay-court juggernaut roared ahead on Thursday, the Spaniard winning his 100th match from 101 on the surface to reach the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open. Nadal worked for one hour, 45 minutes to beat friend and 16th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3.
The three-time Roland Garros champion has not been beaten on his favored surface since starting in the Monte Carlo first round three years ago. His only defeat during his run of form came in the Hamburg final last spring to rival Roger Federer, who swept a 6-0 fifth set. “I’m happier to be in the quarter-finals in Barcelona, I’m not thinking about the victories,” said the world No. 2, who faced a fast turnaround against Juan Chela yesterday.
“This is one of my favorite events and playing Feliciano is always tough,” said Nadal, who had his left shoulder taped after complaining of pain in recent days.
Nadal never faced a break point in a contest in which the first three games took 21 minutes to complete, including a third game with eight deuces and three break points saved by Lopez.
A player from the host nation has won the event for six of the past seven years. Nadal’s win meant four Spaniards from six moved into the last eight and Nicolas Almagro made it five when he beat Croatian Mario Ancic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Nadal is treading a fine line between winning while not running out of steam prior to his run at a fourth straight trophy in Paris from May 25. The Spaniard faces title defenses in Barcelona and Rome before the French Open after winning his fourth straight in Monte Carlo last weekend over Federer.
Spanish second seed David Ferrer labored before finally overcoming persistent Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, taking two-and-a-half hours to get the job done.
Compatriot Tommy Robredo, the sixth-seeded champion from 2004, ended the run of Argentine Guillermo Canas 6-1, 7-5.
Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka sprang a surprise on erratic Argentine third seed David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-1.
Albert Montanes joined his mates in the Spanish Armada, getting past tough Russian qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and next plays Wawrinka.
“I expect to have problems with him,” Wawrinka said. “He’s playing at home.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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