World No. 1 Rafael Nadal cruised into the Barcelona Open quarter--finals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over unseeded Colombian Santiago Giraldo on Thursday to set up a last-eight clash against Gael Monfils.
The Spanish top seed, who won a seventh straight Monte Carlo Masters crown on his favored clay surface on Sunday, was joined in the last eight by compatriots David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Feliciano Lopez.
Almagro, the No. 8 seed, made sure he will break into the top 10 for the first time when the rankings are updated on Monday with a 7-6, 6-3 win against former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko.
Photo: AFP
Fourth seed Ferrer, beaten by Nadal in the Monte Carlo final, eased through with a 6-3, 6-2 success against Victor Hanescu of Romania, while former world No. 1 Ferrero edged Italian qualifier Simone Vagnozzi 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 and Lopez beat Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 7-6.
Ferrer next meets Austrian Juergen Melzer, the sixth seed, who had to come from a set down to get past 11th seed Albert Montanes, another Spaniard, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
In windy conditions in the Catalan capital, Nadal took his record on the red dust since 2005 to 183 wins and only six defeats as he bids for a sixth Barcelona title in seven years.
Photo: Reuters
“Beating Giraldo 6-3, 6-1 is good news because he can hit winners from anywhere on the court,” the Wimbledon, French Open and US Open champion said in an interview with Spanish TV.
Looking ahead to yesterday’s clash with seventh seed Monfils, who beat ninth-seeded compatriot Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-6 on Thursday, the Mallorca-born 24-year-old added: “It’s going to be a very tough match. Monfils is one of those players who can attack as well as defend and you never know how he is going to come out and play.”
“He’ll probably have to come out and attack, but I’ll try to dominate the points with my drives,” Nadal said.
Nadal, who has won 31 matches in a row on clay since losing to Robin Soderling in the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2009, missed last year’s Barcelona Open because of injury.
His Davis Cup teammate Lopez was to play Croat Ivan Dodig yesterday for a place in the last four, with Almagro scheduled to meet Ferrero. Dodig upset 15th seed Milos Raonic of Canada 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in Thursday’s final match of the day.
STUTTGART GRAND PRIX
REUTERS, STUTTGART, GERMANY
World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki survived an early scare to win 10 straight games and crush German Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday for a spot in the last four of the Stuttgart Grand Prix.
Wozniacki, already a winner of three titles this year, will next face Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska who beat German Kristina Barrois 7-5, 6-3 on the clay.
Australian Samantha Stosur also booked her spot with a gutsy 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 win over world No. 3 Vera Zvonareva, who broke a staggering nine strings and briefly played with her coach’s racquet.
World No. 19 Petkovic, who has compared herself to a diesel engine because of her slow starts in previous rounds, shot out of the blocks and twice broke Wozniacki to go 4-1 up.
Wozniacki hung on, saving four break points to avoid falling 5-1 behind.
The Dane, eyeing the French Open next month as she seeks her maiden Grand Slam title, then played more aggressively by coming to the net and snatched the set before breezing through the second against the frazzled German.
“Definitely it was a fight back to win that first set,” Wozniacki said in a courtside interview.
“I am sorry to beat the home favorite, but am happy to be in the semis and hope you will support me,” she told the crowd.
Stosur, last year’s French Open finalist, skipped the Fed Cup playoff against Ukraine last weekend to focus on her clay court -preparation, and it paid off as she fought back from a set down to beat the Russian.
Stosur will now face 22-year-old Julia Goerges, ranked 32nd, who beat fellow German Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-4.
“It is the best match I have had all year,” Stosur said in a courtside interview. “To come through as close and as tight is just wonderful.”
An opening game lasting 14 minutes set the tone for a tight encounter, with second-seed Zvonareva breaking her opponent on her ninth opportunity.
Stosur initially looked uncomfortable on Stuttgart’s indoor red clay in an error-strewn first set performance.
The 27-year-old battled her way back into the contest, serving with much more kick and hitting a better forehand to lead 5-3 and grab the second set when Zvonareva fired a service return long.
The Russian seemed not to be distracted by the number of times she had to switch racquets, even when she broke strings on two consecutive points.
The pair matched blows before Stosur played a near flawless tiebreak to clinch the match on her first match point.
In an all-German hard-hitting battle, Goerges outgunned Lisicki to book her spot in impressive style.
The pair traded bludgeoning blows from the start and Lisicki, ranked 155th and getting back to her best after an injury-plagued season last year, recovered despite being a set and a break down to lead 4-3.
However, Goerges fired two forehand winners to clinch another break and go 5-4 up before serving out the match.
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