The “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal hit 23 winners to cruise through to a 6-1 6-2 win in 75 minutes over Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva in his debut at the Banc Sabadell Barcelona Open in a rain-delayed match to book his spot in the third round. Nadal has scored his 49th win in Barcelona, the tournament where he won nine titles. Nadal will face Kevin Anderson for a spot in the quarter finals.
On the newly named Pista Rafael Nadal the Spanish 14-time Grand Slam legend earned his first break in the second game to 30 to open up a 3-0 lead as Dutra Silva made a double fault. The nine-time Barcelona champion went up a double break to love in the sixth game and served out for the first set in the next game to wrap it up 6-1.
Dutra Silva held his first service game after saving two break points at the start of the second set before getting his first break to take a 2-0 lead. From 0-2 Nadal reeled off six consecutive games with three breaks in the third, fifth and seventh games. Nadal served out with an ace on his first match point in the eighth game after saving a break point following a double fault at 30-30.
Nadal will take on Kevin Anderson, who beat David Ferrer yesterday.
“I want to thank the club for this honour. It’s one of the most important tournaments for me, one of the courts where I had the best moments of my career. This place has meant a lot to me since forever and the club has decided to name the centre court with my name makes it even more special. I think I played a solid match. I think it was a comfortable win. I played well with the same intensity against a player that came in with a lot of victories on clay this year”, said Nadal.
Nadal will be bidding to win his 10th title in a tournament for two consecutive weeks after claiming a record 10th trophy in Monte-Carlo. Nadal could catch Federer in the Race to London during the next seven weeks, as Federer is planning to miss the next two Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome before returning to action at Roland Garros.
“In Barcelona I am playing another very important event for me at home and I am excited about that. I am going to keep playing at home in Madrid. There are so many opponents to play before Roland Garros, so many important matches. Every event in this part of the season for me, in my heart, is so special. I enjoy every day”, said Nadal.
David Goffin, who has reached the top-10 after qualifying for the semifinal in Monte-Carlo last week, beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-5 6-0. Although Goffin dropped his serve three times in the first set, he managed to win it by 7-5 thanks to four breaks. The Belgian player broke three times to win the second set by a bagel. Goffin will face Next Gen player Karen Khachanov
Next Gen Hyeon Chung converted all his three break points in his 6-3 6-4 win over this year’s Marrakesh finalist Phillip Kohlschreiber setting up a third round match against Alexander Zverev.
Albert Montanes ended his career after losing his last match against his compatriot Feliciano Lopez by 6-2 6-2.
Lopez will take on Andy Murray, who advanced to the Round of 16 after receiving a walkover following the withdrawal of Bernard Tomic due to lower back injury.
