Story highlights
Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray enjoy straight forward victories at the Barcelona Open
World No. 2 Nadal powers past Robert Farah from Colombia 6-2 6-3
Murray dismissed the challenge of another Colombian, Santiago Giraldo, 6-2 6-2
Victoria Azarenka through to quarterfinals of WTA clay-court tournament in Stuttgart
Rafael Nadal rattled off his 31st consecutive victory at the Barcelona Open after a comfortable straight sets win over Colombia’s Robert Farah.
The world No. 2 has won six of the last seven titles at the Real Club de Tennis – his last defeat coming in 2003 to fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja.
Nadal has continued his supreme clay court form in Spain after his record breaking victory over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday. It was his eighth successive Monte Carlo crown.
The Spaniard dropped just five games in his 6-2 6-3 win to see off the world number 66 in just 86 minutes and book a place in the quarterfinals.
“I had a good start, but the second set was a lot more difficult,” Nadal told reporters.
“There are no easy matches out there. It was tough, but I’m into the quarters and feeling positive. Tomorrow will be even more difficult for sure.”
Nadal will now face No. 5 seed Janko Tipsarevic in the last eight, after the Serbian beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2 6-2.
And Tipsarevic knows just how tough his task will be. “Nadal is absolutely the worst opponent anyone can have on clay,” he told reporters.
“He’s hardly lost a match here. But you have to go for the victory, aiming to just win a few games or a set is not enough. I’m playing well, I’m not too tired. I have fuel left in my tank for this match.”
Nadal was joined in round four by Britain’s Andy Murray after he dispatched another Colombian, Santiago Giraldo, 6-2 6-2.
The No. 2 seed will face big serving Milos Raonic next after the Canadian saw off France’s Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-3.
“I started the match well,” Murray told the ATP Tour’s website. “He’s played quite a lot of matches on clay this year, so I was expecting quite a lot of long rallies and there was quite a lot at the start.
“But once I got ahead started putting pressure on him, he started going for more and made more mistakes.”
Of his clash with Raonic, Murray added: “It’s going to be completely different to today. He’s obviously got a huge serve and a very good game. He can obviously dictate the match, so you need to make sure you play a solid match.
“There’s a chance that he’s going to give you the odd opportunity by making mistakes and you need to be ready to take that.”
Spain’s Feliciano Lopez booked his place in round four with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen but his compatriot Albert Ramos was defeated 7-6 6-3 by Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
Elsewhere, top seed and world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka moved into the quarterfinals of Stuttgart’s clay-court WTA tournament after her opponent, Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, retired injured.
Petkovic went over on her right ankle with the score at 6-2 4-4 and could not continue. It means Azarenka, from Bulgaria, will face Mona Barthel in the last eight after the German defeated No. 7 seed Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-1.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Samantha Stosur set up a clash with Maria Sharapova in the quarters after she beat defending champion Julia Goerges 6-2 2-6 6-3.
China’s Li Na, the No. 8 seed, saw off Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-4 6-4 to book a last eight clash with Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova enjoyed a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory over Italy’s Francesca Schiavone and will face Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who knocked out former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, from Denmark, 6-1 6-2.
