RAFAEL NADAL WINS OPENER IN BARCELONA, FERRER NOT AS FORTUNATE By Ricky Dimon

Written by: on 24th April 2014
RAFAEL NADAL TRAINING
RAFAEL NADAL WINS OPENER IN BARCELONA, FERRER NOT AS FORTUNATE By Ricky Dimon

epa04174759 Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal rests during a training session at Real Club tennis center ahead his participation at the Conde de Godo tennis tournament, in Barcelona, north-eastern Spain, 21 April 2014. The 62th Conde de Godo event runs fron 19 to 27 April 2014. EPA/ANDREU DALMAU  |

Although he did not do it convincingly, Rafael Nadal bounced back from a Monte-Carlo quarterfinal loss to David Ferrer with a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over Albert Ramos in the second round of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Wednesday afternoon. Nadal served at 73 percent and capitalized on all three of his break-point chances before advancing in one hour and 56 minutes.

 

The top-seeded Spaniard overcame a 3-1 deficit in the first set and had to make another recovery in the tiebreaker after failing to serve out the opener at 6-5. Ramos stayed on level terms throughout the second frame of play before getting broken to love at 4-5 to abruptly end the match.

 

“I need to improve everything,” Nadal assured. “I’m working every day to play more aggressively. I need to find the feeling of being dominant in the points. I feel that sometimes I’m hitting balls from good positions and I’m not able to create the right spaces, to find winners. I need to try and find that for the next match.

 

“Obviously I didn’t play my best match, but after the defeat in Monte-Carlo, the next match on court was never going to be easy. I am happy with the way I fought and proud of the victory today. The victories are more important when you haven’t played well. I feel happy to be through on a tough day for the top seeds.”

 

“Tough” is an understatement. Four of the top eight seeds bowed out of the tournament on Wednesday and none of those four even earned a single set.

 

 

No. 2 David Ferrer was upset by Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-2, No. 3 Fabio Fognini retired with a thigh injury while trailing Santiago Giraldo 6-0, 4-0, No. 7 Jerzy Janowicz saw his slump continue via a 6-4, 7-6(1) loss to Jurgen Melzer, and No. 8 Alexandr Dolgopolov went down to Albert Montanes 7-6(5), 6-3.

 

Next up for Nadal on Thursday is Ivan Dodig, against whom the world No. 1 is 2-1 lifetime. Dodig’s upset of Nadal came at the 2011 Montreal Masters, where the Croat pulled off a stunning 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) upset.

Topics: , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.