Rafael Nadal beats Gael Monfils to make Barcelona semis
Page last updated at 17:20 GMT, Friday, 22 April 2011 18:20 UK
World number one Rafael Nadal stretched his unbeaten run on clay to 32 matches as he beat Gael Monfils to reach the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.
The Spaniard powered past the seventh seed 6-2 6-2 to set up a clash with Ivan Dodig, who beat Feliciano Lopez 6-4 2-6 6-4.
David Ferrer also reached the last four with a 6-3 6-3 win over Jurgen Melzer.
And eighth seed Nicolas Almagro, who will break into the world's top 10 next week, beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-3.
Nadal is undefeated on clay since 2009 and said he was pleasantly surprised by his latest win.
"To win 6-2 6-2 is a very positive result and was much better than I expected," said the 24-year-old, who has won the tournament five times before but missed last year's event because of a knee injury.
"I won in Monte Carlo last week and now to be in the semi-finals in Barcelona is super positive, I couldn't have started the clay season any better. Now I have to keep on working."
World number 56 Dodig was also pleased with his progress.
"It's been a great week for me," said the Croatian.
"I've played some great matches and I'm really looking forward to playing one more match."
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See also
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Nadal win sets up Monfils meeting
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Nadal through but Soderling out
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Injured Murray to miss Barcelona
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Nadal battles to Monte Carlo win
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