Quarters set in Barcelona
Playing in his native country, Rafael Nadal won his 100th match in his last 101 tries on clay with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. That one loss came last year in the finals at Hamburg to Roger Federer. Nadal, who is seeking his fourth straight Barcelona title, will now face Juan Ignacio Chela in the quarterfinals. Nadal is 3-1 against Chela in his career, with two wins over him on clay.
The winner of the Nadal/Chela match will face either Denis Gremelmayr or Nicolas Almagro in the semis. Gremelmayr continued his impressive run with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over #15 Dmitry Tursunov. Gremelmayr, don’t forget, beat James Blake in the previous round. Almagro picked up a big win over unseeded Mario Ancic in the third round, taking the match 7-6(5), 6-2.
On the other side of the draw, second-seeded David Ferrer will face #6 Tommy Robredo and unseeded Albert Montanes will take on #14 Stanislas Wawrinka. Ferrer won a tough three-setter 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 over Nicolas Lapentti and Robredo beat #9 Guillermo Canas 6-1, 7-5. Ferrer is 2-1 against Robredo, with one of those wins coming on clay at Valencia earlier this year.
Finally, Montanes will take on Wawrinka in what is an unexpected quarterfinal match. In the second round, Montanes upset Ivo Karlovic 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-5 and then he beat Russian qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin in the third round 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Wawrinka pulled off a big upset in the third round, and made it look relatively easy as he bear #3 David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-1. Wawrinka and Montanes are 1-1 against each other, with Montanes winning their only previous match on clay.
With the quarterfinals now set, Nadal definitely has to be the favorite (duh). I don’t really see anybody that is going to stand in his path. Almagro could give him a good challenge in the semis, and Ferrer has the tools to push him in the finals (if they win their matches). But, Nadal has excellent clay-court records against both of them. He is 2-0 versus Almagro, and 4-1 against Ferrer (including a victory last week at Monte Carlo).
What Nadal is doing on clay is unbelievable. His dominance on the surface is unparalleled, and I cannot state this enough. He is virtually unbeatable, and to think that someone could win 100/101 matches on one surface boggles my mind. I think Tom Perrotta made an excellent comparison in his article on ESPN, to a basketball player in the NBA. He also points out that Nadal has been tested, but in the end he always comes through!
~ by Nick's Picks on May 1, 2008.
Posted in Players
Tags: Albert Montanes, Barcelona, clay courts, David Ferrer, David Nalbandian, Denis Gremelmayr, Feliciano Lopez, Juan Ignacio Chela, Nicolas Almagro, Rafael Nadal, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tom Perrotta, Tommy Robredo
I think he will play Gremelmayr in the semi finals.. The German is in great shape..