BARCELONA — Rafael Nadal took his remarkable record to 100
wins in his last 101 matches on clay by beating fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez
6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the Barcelona Open quarterfinals.
The top seed, chasing his fourth consecutive title here,
appeared unaffected by strapping on his left shoulder as he eased through.
Nadal’s run of victories on clay dates back to his first
Monte Carlo title in 2005, with his only defeat on the surface in that time
coming against world No. 1 Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters
last May.
"It’s nice but I am more happy to be in the Barcelona
quarterfinals," said Nadal. "It’s one of my favorite tournaments.
"It was a difficult match with lots of long service games so
I am happy to get through."
After missing three break-point chances at 1-1, Nadal broke
serve in the fifth game.
The world No. 2 then broke twice more in the second set to
line up a meeting with Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela, who beat Latvian Ernests
Gulbis 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Second seed David Ferrer of Spain came through a grueling
4-6, 6-4, 6-3 struggle with Nicolas Lapentti while Argentinean third seed David
Nalbandian was beaten 3-6, 1-6 by Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.
Nalbandian led 3-1 before Wawrinka came roaring back to
record his fifth successive win over the Argentinean.
"He started very well but I always try to get as many balls
back as possible to keep the pressure on him," said Wawrinka, who next plays
Spaniard Albert Montanes.
Ferrer looked on course for a straightforward win over
Lapentti when he went 3-0 up in the first set.
In the end, though, it took him two hours 31 minutes to wear
down the Ecuadorean.
Ferrer next meets Spanish sixth seed Tommy Robredo, who
defied a second-set fightback by last year’s runner-up Guillermo Canas of
Argentina to win 6-1, 7-5.
German Denis Gremelmayr came from 0-3 down to oust Russian Dmitry Tursunov
6-4, 6-0 and set up a match with Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, who wore down
Croatian Mario Ancic 7-6, 6-2.
