Entering Saturday’s action in Spain, Rafael Nadal had not lost a set in 10 previous semi-final appearances (20-0) at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The World No. 1 showed no intention of letting that change.
Nadal overcame an early break to cruise past World No. 10 David Goffin 6-4, 6-0 in one hour, 22 minutes, becoming the fourth player in the Open Era to win 400 tour-level matches on clay, joining Guillermo Vilas, Manuel Orantes and Thomas Muster.
The Spaniard also extended his clay-court winning streak to 18 matches in a row, triumphing in 44 straight sets on the surface. Six of those 18 triumphs, including Saturday’s against Goffin, have come against Top 10 opponents. None of the 15 sets against those competitors have been closer than 6-4.
Nadal also avenged a loss against the Belgian from last year’s Nitto ATP Finals, extending his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the 27-year-old to 3-1. The left-hander will face a first-time ATP World Tour finalist on Sunday, competing for his 11th Barcelona trophy against #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Did You Know?
Rafael Nadal's last clay-court loss came in Rome last year, when he fell against Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2KoH7mC
No comments:
Post a Comment