Spoiler:
Spaniard to face Garcia-Lopez next
By the time Rafael Nadal finishes his legendary career, will any clay-court record not have his name on it?
The Mallorca native extended his Open-Era clay-court mark on Wednesday during his Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell opener against countryman and Ecuador Open champion Roberto Carballes Baena.
The No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings won his 37th and 38th consecutive sets on clay, extending a record that he set on Sunday when he won his 11th Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title. Nadal also stretched his clay-court match-win streak to 15.
Nadal has now won 54 of his 57 matches played in Barcelona, where he is going for his 11th title at the ATP World Tour 500 event (2005-09, 2011-13 and 2016-17). In Monte-Carlo, Nadal became the first player to win a tournament 11 times.
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He was challenged at times against Carballes Baena, who brought positive energy and a willingness to fight on Pista Rafa Nadal. The 25-year-old from Granada saved two set points at 5-4 in the first set and had an opportunity to break back. But Nadal erased the break point and clinched the opening set with a forehand drop shot.
In the second, the two traded breaks and were on serve at 4-3, but Nadal broke again and served out the second-round contest to love. The 10-time Barcelona champion will next meet countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the third round. The veteran right-hander advanced after 14th seed Kei Nishikori, who lost to Nadal in the Monte-Carlo final, retired down 3-6.
Fifth seed Pablo Carreno Busta evened his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Frenchman Benoit Paire (3-3) with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Carreno Busta won 53 per cent of his second-serve points (10/19) and saved the only break point faced to set a third-round meeting with Paire's countryman 11th seed Adrian Mannarino.
Carreno Busta will try to reach his first quarter-final in Barcelona. The 26-year-old Barcelona resident also fell in the third round in 2017.
By the time Rafael Nadal finishes his legendary career, will any clay-court record not have his name on it?
The Mallorca native extended his Open-Era clay-court mark on Wednesday during his Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell opener against countryman and Ecuador Open champion Roberto Carballes Baena.
The No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings won his 37th and 38th consecutive sets on clay, extending a record that he set on Sunday when he won his 11th Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters title. Nadal also stretched his clay-court match-win streak to 15.
Nadal has now won 54 of his 57 matches played in Barcelona, where he is going for his 11th title at the ATP World Tour 500 event (2005-09, 2011-13 and 2016-17). In Monte-Carlo, Nadal became the first player to win a tournament 11 times.
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He was challenged at times against Carballes Baena, who brought positive energy and a willingness to fight on Pista Rafa Nadal. The 25-year-old from Granada saved two set points at 5-4 in the first set and had an opportunity to break back. But Nadal erased the break point and clinched the opening set with a forehand drop shot.
In the second, the two traded breaks and were on serve at 4-3, but Nadal broke again and served out the second-round contest to love. The 10-time Barcelona champion will next meet countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the third round. The veteran right-hander advanced after 14th seed Kei Nishikori, who lost to Nadal in the Monte-Carlo final, retired down 3-6.
Fifth seed Pablo Carreno Busta evened his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Frenchman Benoit Paire (3-3) with a 6-3, 6-3 win. Carreno Busta won 53 per cent of his second-serve points (10/19) and saved the only break point faced to set a third-round meeting with Paire's countryman 11th seed Adrian Mannarino.
Carreno Busta will try to reach his first quarter-final in Barcelona. The 26-year-old Barcelona resident also fell in the third round in 2017.
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