World No. 1 Rafael Nadal maintained his quest for a ninth Barcelona Open title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 over Ivan Dodig on Thursday, racking up his 42nd win in 43 matches at the tournament.
The 13-time Grand Slam champion has been far from happy with his form in recent weeks, but after a slow start had far too much for the world No. 37 as he broke four times in total, before sealing victory in 1 hour, 23 minutes.
Nadal first broke the Dodig serve in the fifth game, but the Croatian immediately broke back to level at 3-3. However, the Spaniard then began to find his rhythm to roll off three straight games to close out the set.
Photo: AFP
More was to follow in the second set as a series of penetrating ground-stokes from Nadal forced Dodig onto the back foot in the fourth game to secure the break, before serving out the match without any difficulties.
Nadal’s only loss in Barcelona came on his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003 when he was beaten by compatriot Alex Corretja in three sets in the second round.
His winning streak is now at 42 in a row, with Nadal losing just three sets in that spell.
Victory also took Nadal level with Arthur Ashe on 683 career wins, with Boris Becker’s mark of 713 now in his sights.
Next up for Nadal in Barcelona is a meeting with fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro after the world No. 20 overcame compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3 to avenge his defeat in the Houston final 11 days previously.
Just one break in the eighth game was enough for Almagro to take the first set.
Both men broke toward the start of the second set, but again Almagro made his move again toward the end of the set as he broke once more to seal victory.
There was to be no such joy for another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, though, as he succumbed to 12th seed Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-7 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5).
Cilic next faces Japanese fourth seed Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals after he eased to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev.
Nishikori is making his first appearance of the season on clay in the Catalan capital and after struggling past Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets on Tuesday, he seemed more at ease as he equaled his best-ever run in Barcelona by reaching the last eight.
Ninth seed Ernests Gulbis also secured his place with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Albert Montanes.
The Latvian next faces Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili in the last eight as he continued his fine week after shocking second seed David Ferrer on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Inigo Cervantes.
Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany meets Colombian Santiago Giraldo in the other quarter-final.
NASTASE TIRIAC TROPHY
AP, BUCHAREST
Third seed Gaels Monfils opened his Nastase Tiriac Trophy account with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis on Thursday.
Following a first-round bye, Monfils broke Berankis four times in their first meeting to reach the quarter-finals after rain delayed the start of play for more than three hours.
With Paul-Henri Mathieu or Marius Copil next, Monfils is looking to regain his early-season form, when he won the title in Montpellier and reached the final in Doha.
Second seed Mikhail Youzhny fell in his opening match in Bucharest for a second straight year as he lost to Dutchman Robin Haase for the first time in six matches, 6-3, 6-3.
Haase next faces Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS