Nadal Cruises to Reach Round Three in Barcelona
Rafael Nadal opened up his Barcelona Open campaign with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro on Wednesday. Nadal broke twice in the opening set, with the key one coming in the seventh game, to capture the first frame.
He opened the door a bit in the second set as he lost his opening service game to give Almagro the 1-0 advantage. But from there, Nadal wrapped things up. He would win the next six games, including seven break points in the final game, to advance to the third-round in one hour and 38 minutes.
Nadal will play 13th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini next after Fognini ousted Russian teenager Andrey Rublev 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
A number of seeded players were eliminated from the tournament on Tuesday.
The biggest upset of the day came from Swedish wildcard Elias Ymer. The 192nd-ranked Ymer came back from a set down to beat 16th-seeded Australian Nick Kyrgios 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(7).
U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic’s struggles continued as the fourth-seed was beaten by the Dominican Republic’s Victor Estrella Burgos 6-4, 6-4. Sixth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was handled by Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-2.
Eighth-seeded Ernests Gulbis’ disastrous 2015 season continued as well as he fell to France’s Benoit Paire 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. Spain’s Pablo Andujar beat 11th-seeded Argentinien 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 to advance.
David Ferrer also coasted into the third round on Wednesday. The third-seeded Spaniard took down compatriot Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-3 to move on.
Fifth-seed Feliciano Lopez, 12th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, 14th seed Martin Klizan and 15th seed Santiago Giraldo rounded out Wednesday’s winners in Barcelona.
