His 49th clay title made him equal Argentine legend Guillermo Vilas’ Open Era record of triumphs on the red dirt.
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Three years after he clinched his eighth title at the Barcelona Open, Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal is back in the final after eliminating Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3.
The Japanese man beat Alexandr Dolgopolov, 7-5, 6-0, and next plays the in-form Benoit Paire, who came back from losing the first set against Malek Jaziri to win in three, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
The Australian Open champion started the second set with a break and capitalized on a host of unforced errors from Siegemund – playing her first final in her hometown – to wrap up the match in 81 minutes with her first match point.
Nadal was quickly up by two breaks, 4-0, though a poor fifth game handed one of the breaks back to Fognini.
Having landed the title in Monte Carlo last week, he continued his winning run despite a gutsy effort from Nishikori, who was seeking to win in Barcelona for the third year in succession.
Paire had beaten Nishikori in their two most recent meetings in Nishikori’s homeland in Tokyo and in a five-set thriller at the US Open past year.
“I served well and that allowed me to play better”.
It went on like that and at 5-4, Nishikori finally crumbled under pressure, giving up the first set 4-6 to the eight-time champion.
“I stepped in more today”. “There were a lot of chances for both of us but I think I have been solid. I am very satisfied for Barcelona to join this group of nine”.
Nishikori took an early lead at 3-2 after Paire risked a drop shot that fell into the net to cede his second service game.
“I’ve had good luck for the last two years and hope for more of the same in the final”.
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On the WTA Tour, home favourite Laura Siegemund stunned top seed and world No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska to book her place in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
