Rafael Nadal slays Ivan Dodig to reach the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
World number one Rafael Nadal faced no real challenge to blow away Ivan Dodig of Croatia in the semi-final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell at Barcelona, Spain on Saturday. The ‘King of Clay Court’ took just 88 minutes to overwhelm his Croat opponent in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, marching into the final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) 500 series tournament.
The top seeded Spaniard has reaches his sixth Barcelona Open final by dispensing out Dodig of his first ever clay-court semi-final. The Croat proved no match to the furry of the world number one and surrendered the contest in the second set to mark an end to his voyage at Barcelona. Dodig had a careful start to the contest, avoiding attacking strokes and risky manoeuvres. He gathered some pace in the later parts of the opener but didn’t have enough fire power to break the momentum of the world’s top ranked player.
Nadal had a ballistic start to the game, breaking in the very first game to lead 2-0. The pressure of competing against the top ranked player took its toll from Dodig who failed to clinch a single point in the opening two games and appeared in all sorts of confusion. The Croat finally regrouped and used his powerful forehand to reel off three straight games to reach 3-2, breaking the Spanish serve once. Dodig couldn’t sustain on his momentum against the five times Barcelona Open Winner, who bagged the next four games to leave the Croat answerless.
The resilient Nadal wiped out his opponent with his mighty ground strokes and accurate power hitting in the opening set. His third break of the day wrapped up the first set in style, as a well-directed drop shot from his racquet sealed the opener at 6-3.
Spanish domination continued in the second set as well, with Nadal breaking early again to lead 2-0 in the second set. Dodig made his desperate attempt to break the shackles and a magnificent forehand pass gave an all-needed serve break to the Croat to reduce the score deficit to 1-2. The top seed wasted no time in regaining the control of the game and stung break points at 2-1 and 5-2 respectively to seal the contest at 6-2 and book a berth in the final of the Barcelona for sixth consecutive time.
Nadal will be squaring off against his fellow compatriot, the world number six David Ferrer in the final at Barcelona. Ferrer outplayed the other Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in the semi-final clash to meet the top seed Nadal for a title shot.
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