There was no danger of a shock occurring at the Barcelona Open on Thursday after Kei Nishikori and Rafael Nadal booked their places in the last eight with little difficulty.
Top seed Nadal continued his winning record against compatriot Albert Montanes after easing to a 6-2, 6-2, victory. The world No.5 remained consistent on his serve throughout the match by winning 71% of his service points as well as converting 5/7 break point opportunities. The triumph is Nadal’s sixth win over Montanes and his seventh consecutive win on clay after clinching the Monte-Carlo Masters title for a record breaking ninth time last week.
“I started off very well, and it felt really good. I’m happy about the victory and very happy about the way I played today,” Nadal said after his win over Montanes.
“I had a great forehand today and the conditions were much better than yesterday.”
A title in Barcelona this week will give Nadal his 49th title on clay, equaling Guillermo Vilas all-time record, which was achieved back in 1983. The next test in the Spaniard’s historic quest will be fiery Italian Fabio Fognini.
Fognini returned to action in Monte-Carlo last week after being sidelined from the tour for almost two months due to an abductor injury. The 31-year-old followed up his win over Mikhail Youzhny on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-3, victory over eighth seed Viktor Troicki today. The Italian saved all four of the break points he faced and won 70% of his service points to reach his first ATP quarterfinal since Auckland in January.
The Italian could prove to be a tricky encounter for Nadal, who he has lost to in three out of their four meetings on the tour last year.
“Tomorrow will be a tough match against Fognini, he beat me three times last year and it was an up and down against him,” Nadal said about his upcoming match.
Defending champion Kei Nishikori extended his winning streak at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona to 12 matches after defeating Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 7-5. Despite being broken twice in the second set, the two-time Barcelona champion fired 19 winners (as well as 20 unforced errors) to take the match after 83 minutes.
In the last eight Nishikori will play Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov. The world No.30 defeated Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-5, to reach his fourth ATP quarterfinal this year. The second seed has a solid record against the Ukrainian, winning all five of their previous encounters. Despite being the clear favorite, Nishikori is expecting a tough match against Dolgopolov on Friday.
“It will be a very complicated match. He is difficult to play, serves well and uses the slice a lot. We are very good friend so it will be interesting. I will sit down with my coaches tonight to prepare the match,” Nishikori said in Barcelona.
Elsewhere at the tournament, Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri defeated world No.51 Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-4. Benoit Paire stormed past Pablo Cuevas in under an hour, winning 6-2, 6-4. Finally, Philipp Kohlschreiber survived a marathon encounter against Feliciano Lopez. The German recovered from a set and a break down to win 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3, after two hours and 46 minutes of play.
Barcelona OOP for Friday is now finalized pic.twitter.com/3InkvijDub
— Stroppa Del (@stroppadel) 21 April 2016
