Nadal cruises in Barcelona

Eurosport - Thu, 23 Apr 18:54:00 2009

World number one Rafael Nadal began his campaign for a fifth successive Barcelona Open title with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory over Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil.

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns a ball to Frederico Gil of Portugal during their match at the Barcelona Open - 0

The Spanish top seed broke Gil's serve in the third game and coasted into the last 16 with three more breaks on the clay in the Catalan capital to set up a third-round clash against unseeded Belgian Christophe Rochus.

"It was a win without too much bother," 22-year-old Nadal said. "I was always comfortable without really doing anything spectacular."

Nadal, who had a bye into the second round, became the first man to win the Monte Carlo Masters five times in a row when he beat Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final and is the overwhelming favourite for a fifth consecutive French Open title.

In other second-round matches, second seed Fernando Verdasco beat Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 7-5 6-3. The Spanish world number seven will play Czech 15th seed Tomas Berdych on Thursday for a place in the last eight.

Third seed Nikolay Davydenko also went through by beating Frenchman Arnaud Clement 7-6 6-2.

The Russian third seed only converted two of his 11 break points but it was enough to put him in the next round where he will face 16th seed Feliciano Lopez, who beat qualifier Santiago Ventura 2-6 6-4 6-3.

Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, the fifth seed, won 6-4 6-4 against Jose Acasuso of Argentina.

Spanish sixth seed and 2004 winner Tommy Robredo beat Acasuso's compatriot and the 2004 French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 7-6 6-1, and David Nalbandian, also from Argentina, defeated Russian Igor Kunitsyn 7-5 6-4.

Monte Carlo Masters semi-finalist Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 7-5 6-1.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 15 of 15

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  1. Rafa is red hot favourite but possible matches against­ Nalbandian, Davydenko and Verdasco would be pretty­ attractive "warm ups". You could even argue­ that these players have round about as much chance of­ beating him as anyone else on clay. After the Rome Semi­ two years ago, I'd be particularly keen to catch­ the Davydenko clash if it materialises. Take Care

    From rhymes450, on Thu 23 Apr 10:56AM

  2. No offense to the other players but only Verdasco, if­ he is in the form of AO, could give Nadal a run for his­ money. I think Rafa should play one set in each match­ with his right hand. As far as I have heard he played­ right-handed in the very beginning of his career. It­ will be fun at least to watch him.

    From Pavel, on Thu 23 Apr 10:17AM

  3. Hello, fans!I'm an amazing girl from UK. I like­ this team very much. I have a blog on

    -- Seekingtall­ Co m -- I like to share the funny things of the team­ with other fans,esp handsome guys~

    From whiterandy96, on Thu 23 Apr 7:26AM

  4. just a warm up before rome

    From kirovrtanoski, on Thu 23 Apr 2:47AM

  5. I know Nadal was speaking from an honest assessment of­ his performance, but you know it's gotta hurt a­ little if your Gil to hear: "It was a win without­ too much bother," 22-year-old Nadal said. "I­ was always comfortable without really doing anything­ spectacular."

    LOL

    From Victor P, on Thu 23 Apr 2:46AM

  6. Only one of the top 6 here only Verdasco to give Rafa a­ game no interest for me a cakewalk for Nadal

    From Ronsenglish, on Thu 23 Apr 2:21AM

  7. com'on rafa!GIVE THEM NOTHING,TAKE THEM EVERYTHING!

    From suciucristian73, on Wed 22 Apr 10:20PM

  8. Rafa is sublime, no greater player out there

    From justgetsnasty, on Wed 22 Apr 8:01PM

  9. VAMOS RAFA!!! great win, continue like that, let's­ win in Barcelona for the 5th consecutive time!!

    From Ina01Masha, on Wed 22 Apr 7:08PM

  10. why aren't the other top players in this­ tournament. Lazy.

    From webbski, on Wed 22 Apr 7:02PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    lol...really? I found a place that many players are­ hoo king up with h ot mo dels, seems the club called:­ __T all mingle Co M___, do you hear this before?

    From gary4loves, on Wed 22 Apr 6:13PM

  12. So it means Gaudio won the first round match! Now­ that's a news

    From Giovanni T, on Wed 22 Apr 5:35PM

  13. vamos Rafa!!! Rafa winner the turnament Barcelona .

    From rubenm, on Wed 22 Apr 4:41PM

  14. Go Rafa! Hope he gets through this tourney easy as he­ can't afford use up his resources.. He's desire­ and loyalty never cease to amaze me.. Sorry I know this­ article is about davy but Rafa he's more...­ exciting isn't he?

    From faeelisabethcoleman, on Wed 22 Apr 4:02PM

  15. its good to see Davydenko back on tour,lets see how he­ fares at roland garos

    From kirovrtanoski, on Wed 22 Apr 2:17PM
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