Five-time champion Rafael Nadal produced a decidedly patchy effort in recording his 500th career win to reach today’s Barcelona Open final where he will meet fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.
Nadal managed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 56th-ranked Croatian Ivan Dodig, which saw the 24-year-old become the second-youngest player ever to reach the 500-win milestone after Bjorn Borg who was 23 years, seven months.
World number one Nadal lost breaks early in each of the sets against Dodig and had to fight through for his 33rd consecutive win on clay.
Although, last week Nadal mentioned the fatigue factor, he managed to get past Dodig despite uncharacteristically throwing away the early margins which usually power him to quick victories.
In the first set, the top seed ended up breaking the Croatian three times to take it in 39 minutes. But the second set was equally tough for the Spanish crowd favourite, with Nadal forced to break back for 3-1 after losing serve in the previous game.
However, he kept his momentum to complete the win within 90 minutes with a total of six breaks.
In-form Ferrer cruises into final
Meanwhile, Ferrer shrugged off a calf injury worry to reach his second straight claycourt final as the fourth-seed cruised past Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-final.
“I had to play well to get past Nico. I’m hoping to still feel fully fit for the final,” said Ferrer who reached his home title shot in just over 90 minutes, earning victory on his fourth match point.
“It was a tough win physically. It was only two sets but they were hard-fought. I was lucky to play my best in the important moments.”
Recent history
However, it’s worth mentioning that Nadal beat Ferrer a week ago for an historic seventh straight trophy at Monte Carlo with Ferrer having won just four matches from 16 in their series. Nadal, Ferrer and Almagro are the top three-ranked Spaniards, with at least one home player into the final for a 15th consecutive year.
Top seed Nadal enters his title bid with wins in 74 of his 76 sets on clay with a Barcelona win-loss record of 29-1.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2011.
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