Rafael Nadal beats Fernando Verdasco to reach the title round – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
World number two, Rafael Nadal, put up another dominating display of high quality clay-court tennis in the semi-final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Saturday. The King of Clay overwhelmed his Spanish compatriot, Fernando
Verdasco, in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4, to earn a title shot at the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 event in Barcelona, Spain.
Nadal, who leads 13-0 in the FedEx Head-to-Head series against Lopez now, stepped on the court as the hot favourite and had no real difficulty in sustaining the clean record over the other Spaniard. He provided great entertainment
to his home crowd, belting assertive winner to all parts of the court and dominating every second of play to come out as the winner. The defending champion, Nadal, continues with his clay court sweep of the season, earning an opportunity to defend his title
in Barcelona.
"It's even more special to reach a final at home," said Nadal. "I enjoy this tournament a lot. Tomorrow I will have to play perfect to have a chance to beat one of best players in the world. I will try to play aggressive and hope
David doesn't have one of his best days. Today I played a very strong first set, maybe the best I've had on clay so far this season. To win in Monte-Carlo and to reach a final in Barcelona, no matter what happens tomorrow I have had a great start to clay season."
The top seed Spaniard belted 70 per cent of his first serve on target and dropped merely six points on it en route to victory. He secured 29 out of 35 first serve points and converted half of the eight break points he crafted in
the match, whilst Verdasco completely failed to register a single serve break in the entire matchup. He frittered away four priceless break chances to finish on the losing side in the end.
Nadal’s victory booked him a spot in the all-Spanish final against the third seed David Ferrer, due to be played on Sunday. Ferrer outplayed the talented 11th seed Canadian tennis ace, Milos Raonic, in the semis to meet
Nadal in the title round.
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