By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, April 21, 2016
Rafael Nadal swept Albert Montanes scoring his seventh straight win to set up a Barcelona quarterfinal with Fabio Fognini.
Photo credit: Barcelona Open BancSabadell
Questions surrounding Rafael Nadal's reportedly fading movement and waning confidence swirled at the start of the season.
Returning to red clay, a recharged Nadal continues to roll out the answers.
Watch: Nadal's Brilliant Break Point
The top seed stetched his winning streak to seven matches sweeping compatriot Albert Montanes, 6-2, 6-2, in a 67-minute clinic to roar into the Barcelona quarterfinals.
Rain delayed the start. Once the match began, Nadal thundered his forehand throughout, displacing the 35-year-old Barcelona resident into defensive positions behind the baseline.
Dictating rallies with aggressive ball striking, Nadal served 71 percent and converted five of seven break points.
“I started off very well and felt really good. I’m happy about the victory and very happy about the way I played today,” Nadal said afterward. “I had a great forehand today and the conditions were much better than yesterday.”
The eight-time champion took a tumble to the court in his opening-round victory over Marcel Granollers, but covered the court smoothly today.
Nadal's win sets up a quarterfinal showdown with his old nemesis Fabio Fognini. The fifth-ranked Spaniard has won six of nine meetings with Fognini.
The theatrical Italian dispatched eighth-seeded Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to his first quarterfinal since Auckland last January.
The 13th-seeded Fognini has posed problems for Nadal in the past using his sharp timing, ability to take the ball on the rise and sometime ornery attitude to thwart the 14-time Grand Slam champion.
A year ago, Fognini doubled Nadal's winner output (34 to 17) in a 6-4, 7-6 (4), upset to reach the Barcelona quarterfinals. It was Nadal's earliest exit in Barcelona since 2003.
It was Fognini's second straight clay-court victory over Nadal, following his 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 triumph capped with a dazzling match point in the 2015 Rio semifinals. That victory snapped Nadal's 52-match winning streak in clay-court semifinals.
Nadal knocked off four Top 20 opponents in succession, including reigning Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka and world No. 2 Andy Murray, collecting his ninth Monte Carlo crown last week. He knows he must be prepared to battle against Fognini, who also knocked Nadal out of the US Open.
“Tomorrow will be a tough match against Fognini, he beat me three times last year and it was up and down against him.” said Nadal.
Two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori dissected 13th-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, 6-3, 7-5. The second-seeded Japanese will play 11th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov in what could be a shotmaking spectacle. Nishikori has won all eight sets the pair have played.
Wild card Benoit Paire won 21 of 25 points played on his first serve defeating ninth-seeded Pablo Cuevas, 6-2, 6-4, in 57 minutes. Paire will play Malek Jaziri next. Jaziri was a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victor over Alexander Zverev.