Top seed Rafa Nadal has eased through the semi finals

"Landep News"

Nadal upsets Monfils to reach semis (Foto: telegraph.co.uk)

Top seed Rafa Nadal has eased through the semi finals after defeating Gael Monfils in straight sets. The world champion ousted the French 6-2, 6-2 to go two wins from his sixth success in Barcelona.

Nadal, who has won five titles in a row at the $2,220,000 Open, grabbed two straight breaks in the opener to leave the Frenc four games behind within half an hour. The 24-year-old first broke Monfils in the third game to take a 2-1 lead the seventh favorite was unable to disolve. But things got much worse in the fifth game. Nadal picked a second break to clinch the opener to two. Concerning the second set, things looked simply the same. Nadal grabbed a couple of break points in the same third and fifth games to claim the victory in almost one hour.

Nadal will next play either Ivan Dodig, winner of this year’s Zagreb Indoors tournament, or Feliciano Lopez. Dodig edged Milos Raonic 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in the third round, while Lopez has made the progress thanks to a straight-set win over Kei Nishikori whom he passed 6-4, 7-6.

On the second half of the table, David Ferrer, who follows a great showing in Monte Carlo, eased past Romania’s Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2, to meet Roger Federer’s killer in Monte Carlo Jurgen Melzer. The eighth-ranked Austrian overcame Albert Montanes 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 to set his seventh meeting with Ferrer, second of the season. Ferrer last beat him last week in Monte Carlo and leads the head to head series 4-2.

Said Melzer, who is still chasing his first title of the season: “I’m happy with my clay-court season so far, reaching the semis in Monte-Carlo and then being already in the quarter-finals here. I’ve been beating good players lately on clay and my confidence is high. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the clay-court season.”

Finally, Juan Carlos Ferrero and the 2011 Costa Do Sauipe and Buenos Aires winner Nicolas Almagro are to fight fro a place into the semi finals. Almagro, who starts the clash as favorite, reached the quarters thanks to a two-set win over Nikolay Davydenko whom the Spaniard defeated 7-6, 6-3. Ferrero, by contrast, needed three sets in order to advance into the best eight. The 77^th-ranked edged Simone Vagnozzi 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.

Barcelona Open Prize Money and points:

Winner – 290,000 euro and 500 points ATP

Runner-up – 145,750 euro and 300 points ATP

Semi finalist – 73,850 euro and 180 points ATP

Quarter finalist – 37,450 euro and 90 points ATP

R16 – 19,230 euro and 45 points ATP

R32 – 10,110 euro and 20 points ATP

R56 – 6,075 euro and zero points

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