ATP Barcelona: Rafael Nadal battles past David Ferrer for milestone win
The top seed and the 11-time Barcelona champion Rafael Nadal has reached the quarter-final for the 13th time on the court that carries his name, ousting compatriot David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 56 minutes for the 60th win at Trofeo Conde de Godo. Rafa played better than against Leonardo Mayer in the second round yesterday, saving four out of five break points to mount the pressure on David who has played his last match in Barcelona, retiring in two weeks in Madrid. This was the 32nd encounter between Nadal and Ferrer and the 26th triumph for Rafa (the fifth in a row after Monte Carlo 2014) who will now face Jan-Lennard Struff or Stefanos Tsitsipas whom he beat in the final a year ago.
The rain played its part, interrupting the match a couple of times and breaking the rhythm of the rivals who delivered decent tennis match, probably facing each other for the last time after kicking off the rivalry in Stuttgart 15 years ago. Rafa saved two break points in the opening game of the match to avoid an early setback and grabbed a break at 3-2 when David sent a backhand long, wrapping up the opener with a forehand down the line winner in game nine for a 6-3. Nadal broke again at the start of the second set before Ferrer erased the deficit with a deep return in the fourth game to level the score at 2-2, getting broken again in the next game to send Rafa back in front.
The 11-time winner served well by the end of the match and concluded Ferrer's Barcelona journey on the fourth match point at 5-3, breaking the great rival once again to race into the last eight.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2W62WwZ
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