Top seed to face Tsitsipas in final
The 11-time champion landed 13 forehand winners and claimed four service breaks to extend his unbeaten ATP Head2Head record against Carreno Busta to 8-0. Nadal made quick starts to both sets and reached his 69th clay final after 89 minutes (60-8).
“I am very happy to be back in a final here at an historic event, a home event [and] an important one for me,” said Nadal. “I think I did things well today, better than the other days. I have been improving every single day a little bit more.”
Nadal is chasing his 12th title at the ATP 500 event. The 60-time clay-court titlist is the only player to lift 12 or more tour-level trophies at the same tournament, having claimed 13 titles at Roland Garros.
El otro premio que buscará Rafa Nadal en la final contra Tsitsipas
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Tenis | Babolat reprende a Fognini y Paire por su comportamiento
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Felix wins all-Canadian clash against Shapovalov
Stefanos Tsitsipas extended his straight-sets winning streak to seven on Thursday by booking a place in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell quarter-finals.
The second-seeded Greek, who captured his first ATP Masters 1000 trophy at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Rublev) on Sunday, was impressive in a 7-5, 6-3 victory over No. 14 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia in 84 minutes. He is now 24-5 on the 2021 season. I was playing close to the lines so that was definitely difficult, Tsitsipas said. He’s a good competitor; he always puts out his best game. I think running and getting an extra ball back is actually his biggest strength so that’s what makes him very difficult to play against.
Russian star to next play Bautista Agut or Sinner
Andrey Rublev worked his way into the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell quarter-finals on Thursday, but was far from his best in a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 victory over Spain s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in two hours and 27 minutes.
The third-seeded Russian found a way to record an ATP Tour-best 26th match win of the season, striking 24 of his 35 winners off his forehand wing and clinching 12 of 14 points at the net. He finished runner-up to Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final.
Rublev, who felt “angry” after his opening-round win over Italian lucky loser Federico Gaio on Wednesday, admitted, “Nothing has changed, I didn’t learn my lessons. The most important thing is that I managed to win today. When you’re not doing something correctly, but you’re still winning matches, it gives you confidence. Albert was playing much better than me early in the third set, but you never know which way it will go.”