Solid players, solid tennis, no surprises.
This is what’s going on in Barcelona.
NADAL – [Q] FARAH 6-2 6-3
Apparently it was even a feast for qualifier Robert Farah ranked world 246 not to be badly trashed by Nadal. Rafa won this routine game in 1h and 26m and was even broken once!
Besides the game, the incredible stat is that Rafa is not losing a game in a 500 ATP tournament on clay since 2003!
He willnow play Janko Tipsarevic (6-2 6-2 over Gil) in the next round. “Nadal is absolutely the worst opponent anyone can have on clay,”said the Serb. Good Luck!
MURRAY – GIRALDO 6-1 6-2
The Scott continues to destroy much-lower-ranked players in the first rounds of every tournament. It took 74 minutes to dismiss Giraldo from Colombia (world nr54). To be frank there are some untidy areas in Andy’s game. In fact, even if the score talks about a one way match, Andy committerd 3 double faults, he put in only 62% of his first serve (ok he did also 9 aces), he won only 42% of his seecond serve points and he conceded 4 break points (saved 3). Something to care about in the next match agaist Raonic.
RAONIC – ALMAGRO 6-3 6-3
Great stuff from the Canadian. Milos is putting so much effort on training on clay and this is giving results. Although Nicolas Almagro is a terrbile opponent on the dirt, it took only 78 minutes for Milos to dispatch the Spaniard with a solid performance.
The upcoming Canadian blasted 7 aces, no double faults and he was ruthless in converting all 3 break points conceded by Nicolas.
“This was probably my best win on clay,” 25th-ranked Raonic said. “Before the first round, I was feeling quite miserable about my game. I had trained well but didn’t do so well last week. I was having trouble getting some things together. But I’ve been able to pick it up in my last two matches. I’m hitting and moving well and that makes the difference in my game. I’m taking a lot of confidence into the quarterfinals.”
Let’s see how he will play with Murray in the quarters.
FERRER – MONTANES 6-0 6-2
Trashy stuff here… well not so trashy if you see in deep. David left only 2 games to Albert Montanes, but the match was much more even than it seems from the result. David had to play for 1h 20minutes and outlasted his opponent winning 67 points to 43. So there was a dominance, but the result was too severe to Montanes.
Ferrer will face face Lopez in the next round (6-3 6-1 to Nieminem)
QUARTER FINALS
Nadal – Tipsarevic
Verdasco – Nishikori
Lopez – Ferrer
Raonic – Murray
Check the Latest News About the Tournament
DRAWS
Photo Credit to Nicolas Genin
