• ATP Tour

Nadal storms into Barcelona Open semi-finals

ESPN staff
April 26, 2013
Rafael Nadal performed better in his quarter-final match than he did in the last-16 © AP
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Rafael Nadal sailed into the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open after the Spaniard recorded a 6-3 6-0 victory over Albert Ramos.

The No. 2 seed has triumphed at this event seven times in the previous eight years, and on Friday was tested having to play two matches in a day due to his last-16 encounter being rained off on Thursday.

Earlier on Friday, Nadal was far from his best against Benoit Paire despite coming through in straight sets, but against fellow Spaniard Ramos the French Open champion was back to his dominant best, and wrapped up an easy victory to move into the last four.

Nadal quickly seized a break and raced into a 3-0 lead, before Ramos took the fourth game to make it 3-1.

Nadal - who lost out to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday - was very comfortable on court, and maintained the break throughout the set to clinch it 6-3.

Ramos was stung once again by powerful groundstrokes from Nadal early in the second set, and the outcome soon became apparent as Nadal blew his opponent away to register a whitewash in the second set and storm into the semi-finals, notching up his 37th consecutive victory.

Nicolas Almagro enjoyed a 6-3 7-5 victory over Juan Monaco, while Philipp Kohlschreiber sealed a semi-final spot after receiving a bye following Thomaz Bellucci pulling out with an abdominal injury.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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