ATP Barcelona - Nadal crushes Rochus

Eurosport - Fri, 24 Apr 15:22:00 2009

World number one Rafael Nadal thrashed unseeded Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-2 6-0 to advance to stay on course for a fifth straight Barcelona Open title.

TENNIS 2009 ATP Barcelona Nadal R. - Gil F. - 0

The Spanish top seed goes straight into the semi-finals after seventh seed David Nalbandian withdrew with a hip problem.

Nadal had been set to meet the Argentine after his 6-3 6-4 victory over Spanish 10th seed Nicolas Almagro, but Nalbandian pulled out soon afterwards.

Nadal will now face the winner of Friday's match between Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, who beat Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, and Russian third seed Nikolay Davydenko, conqueror of 16th seed Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in a gruelling 7-6(8) 3-6 6-4 clash.

"Both are difficult opponents," Nadal said.

"Stepanek has an unusual style and breaks up the play whereas Davydenko keeps the rhythm up all the time and is very hard to dominate.

"I'll be training a bit harder than normal tomorrow and that should be enough."

The Australian Open, Wimbledon and French Open champion was in brutal form against Rochus, breaking the Belgian's serve twice in the first set and three times in the second on the clay in the Catalan capital.

Nadal became the first man to win the Monte Carlo Masters five times in a row when he beat Novak Djokovic in last weekend's final and begins his attempt for a fifth consecutive French Open crown next month.

Second seed Fernando Verdasco reached the quarter-finals with victory over Czech Tomas Berdych and Chilean fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez also progressed against Argentine Juan Monaco.

Last year's losing finalist David Ferrer and 2004 winner Tommy Robredo will meet for a place in the semis after the Spanish pair each came back from a set down to beat Italy's Potito Starace and Russian Igor Andreev respectively.

Reuters

Comment 16 - 35 of 35

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  1. soz y.soserious, i'd missed all the michael B's­ comments because they were thumbed down. yeah what a­ vermin the geezer is.

    From sanchez.santos, on Sat 25 Apr 10:31AM

  2. Sanchez.santos @35
    Yes and yr personality is reflected­ in yrs.
    Life is too short not to see the lighter side­ of things.
    I don't think the players give a­ rat's a.s.s what everybody writes.
    For fans who get­ offended, all I can say is u won't get offended if­ u don't allow things to offend u.
    I am a Rafa fan­ and I didn't see any humor in him being called a­ gargoyle.

    From y.soserius, on Sat 25 Apr 9:49AM

  3. So sorry dr.jandrovic I couldn't possibly accede to­ your request, in all the circumstances, however I do­ believe someone's personality is reflected in their­ writings, or so some professions assert, so i am sure­ your vocation would have clued you up already.­ y.soserious appears to have sobered up (or out doing­ more damage), so its all good at the moment. I honestly­ didn't think it was fair to stoop so low about hard­ working professional tennis players. It is up to him­ what he says about their fans but I didn't it was­ fair on the players IMHO.

    From sanchez.santos, on Fri 24 Apr 11:46PM

  4. Wn, everybody reckons that their hero will win the next­ one or the next one or the next one. As long as there­ is hope there will be life.

    Sanchez, I found­ y.soserius pretty much on the right tone already, you­ want to raise it?? That seems asking for controversy.­ Sanchez, tell us about yourself....

    From dr.jandrovic, on Fri 24 Apr 6:02PM

  5. y.soserious can we raise the tone a bit please or, we­ can ask the good doctor dr.jancrovic to explain your­ problem to us.......ha ha.

    From sanchez.santos, on Fri 24 Apr 5:42PM

  6. Murray will win at Barcelona i reckon. RBTL.

    From Wm, on Fri 24 Apr 5:35PM

  7. Well thats kind of serious in that case. And who might­ you be dear wisoserious? Tell us about yourself, any­ particular problems? We're all here to help. I do­ think though that you would find a friend for Life in­ IgorK, that's why I was wondering what happened to­ him.

    From dr.jandrovic, on Fri 24 Apr 5:30PM

  8. Is he one of the Djoker worshippers?
    Well­ then..he's up Djoker's a.s.s of cos, cleaning­ out the clay from last week.

    From y.soserius, on Fri 24 Apr 5:22PM

  9. Only one question, where is IgorK??

    From dr.jandrovic, on Fri 24 Apr 5:09PM

  10. Nadal had crushed roaches for dinner yesterday.

    From y.soserius, on Fri 24 Apr 4:54PM

  11. Hey Ray V.
    Cos when michael b looks into his mirror, he­ sees Karlovic looking back.

    From y.soserius, on Fri 24 Apr 3:15PM

  12. hey y.soseriious.....michael b is a big fan of Radek­ Stefanek. Im wandering why he could say such things­ about Nadal. LOL

    From Ray V, on Fri 24 Apr 1:30PM

  13. #15. Miguel b aka michael b.
    Rafa has a perfectly­ formed body.
    I bet you secretly want to do the sniffing­ yourself...

    From y.soserius, on Fri 24 Apr 9:23AM

  14. Michael B, didn't yr mother tell u never to eat in­ front of the tv?
    Me think u are just jealous of­ Rafa's bod. He isn't ugly, u blind @#$% face!
    U­ must be a gargoyle yrself having to sit on couch having­ dinner.

    From y.soserius, on Fri 24 Apr 4:19AM

  15. to one sided, no opposition, boring

    From Ronsenglish, on Fri 24 Apr 3:41AM

  16. A reliable source told me that Nalbandian sustained his­ hip injury whilst getting BUMMED FURIOUSLY by­ pint-sized TV legend RONNIE CORBETT

    From Chemical Ali, on Fri 24 Apr 1:00AM

  17. Miguel your are not the first to come in here and­ offend Rafa and his fans... But if you want to see­ pretty faces watch WTA if you still want to see tennis­ or watch the fashion tv...
    As for Rafa is giving us­ pretty good tennis moments, for thoose who like tennis­ obviously! theres is only missing some Federer to make­ the perfect picture.

    From tiagomarcelino, on Thu 23 Apr 11:35PM

  18. Pity about the fourth QF. Not that Nalbandian would­ have been favourite. Far from it. But not many tennis­ fans would have been able to resist watching a­ Rafa/Nalbandian match. Nalbandian will probably never­ win a Grand Slam but he's proved that absolutely­ nobody is 100% safe when he's around and that­ always makes things interesting. Cheers

    From rhymes450, on Thu 23 Apr 11:15PM

  19. HEY TELL ME SOMETHING,IS IT MIGUEL OR MICHEAL?PLEASE­ TRY AND MAKE UP YOUR MIND I KNOW ITS HARD FOR SOMEONE­ OF YOUR VERY LIMITED MENTAL STATE,AND ONE MORE QUESTION­ FOR YOU, YOU WOULD'NT HAPPEN TO BE MARK PETCHEY IN­ DISGUISE WOULD YOU?

    From mikestark78, on Thu 23 Apr 10:45PM

  20. David doesn't beat Goliath then!

    From webbski, on Thu 23 Apr 10:43PM
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