Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer both breezed into the third round today of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Nadal overwhelmed fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-1 6-1, while Ferrer easily dispatched Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-2 6-2.
In a tournament with a draw dominated by Spaniards, Nadal and Ferrer are the highlights, fresh off their matchup in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters last Sunday. Nadal said yesterday in a press conference on the tournament grounds that he was hoping for an encore of last week’s final, which Nadal won in two competitive sets, 6-4 7-5.
Things are looking good for that matchup to take place. Nadal is obviously the undisputed King of Clay and anything less than an appearance in the final would be a shock to the tennis world. Ferrer is now the highest seed on his side of the draw, and a clear favorite to reach the final, after #2 seed Andy Murray was forced to withdraw from the tournament with an elbow injury. The #5 seed, Tomas Berdych, also withdrew before the start of the tournament with gastroenteritis.
Nadal made his first appearance of the week on Pista Principal after missing last year’s tournament and completely dominated his young countryman Gimeno-Traver. It was clearly not Nadal’s best tennis, but it didn’t need to be--Gimeno-Traver never had a chance to get used to his surroundings. The world’s #1 raced out to an early lead and never looked back. Nadal will meet Colombian Santiago Giraldo in the third round. Giraldo upset #13 seed Thomaz Bellucci in the first round and followed that up with a victory earlier today over wild card Spaniard Albert Ramos 6-3 4-6 6-3. Nadal and Giraldo have met twice before, with Nadal winning both encounters in straight sets. Nadal won this event five consecutive times from 2005-2009.
Nadal’s path to the final was made a bit easier from the outset with Berdych’s withdrawl, and only seemed to get easier when #3 seed Robin Soderling was upset later in the day by Croat Ivan Dodig in straight sets, 6-2 6-4. After a strong start to the season, Soderling has struggled of late, underperforming on the American hard courts before dropping his first match in Barcelona. Soderling never looked comfortable on the court, and especially struggled with his serve, ending the match with four double faults and zero aces. When he did get his first serve in, Soderling only managed to win half of those points. Dodig played aggressively, particularly on break points, cashing in on 5 of 7 opportunities. He also finished with 9 aces.
Ferrer also met with little resistance from Berlocq, ranked #72 in the world. Serving at 1-1 in the first set, Ferrer saved 2 break points to hold serve and was never seriously challenged again. The Spaniard dictated play from the baseline with well-placed groundstrokes en route to a third round date with Romanian Victor Hanescu. Hanescu upset #14 seed Kevin Anderson from South Africa in straight sets, 6-4 6-4.
In addition to Soderling and Anderson, Argentine Juan Monaco, the #16 seed, was also a victim of the upset bug, losing to Italian qualifier Simone Vagnozzi 6-3 6-2. In an all-Spanish second round match, Feliciano Lopez beat #12 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in three tough sets, 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4. Lopez will meet Kei Nishikori, who last week became the highest-ever ranked player from Japan, in the third round. Nishikori advanced by taking out Lucky Loser Rui Machado, who took Berdych’s spot in the main draw, 6-1 6-4. Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former #1 ranked player in the world, who has not competed since last year’s US Open, also moved into the third round by defeating Mischa Zverev from Germany. Zverev was also a Lucky Loser, taking Murray’s place in the main draw.
Other second round winners include #6 seed Jurgen Melzer, #9 seed Richard Gasquet and former top 5 player from Russia Nikolay Davydenko. Melzer, who beat Roger Federer last week in Monte Carlo, will take on Spaniard Albert Montanes, the #11 seed, in the third round. Gasquet will be matched up with fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils, seeded #7, for the right to face Nadal in the quarterfinals, assuming Nadal can get by Giraldo. Davydenko will try to continue his run on the red clay in Bacelona against another Spaniard, #8 seed Nicolas Almagro. Almagro can move into the top 10 for the first time with a win.
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