Posted at 7:24 a.m., Thursday, April 26, 2007
Nadal's winning streak on clay reaches 69
Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak on clay to 69 matches, defeating Thomas Johansson, 6-1, 6-4, today to advance to the quarterfinals of the Open Seat Godo.The two-time defending champion was nearly perfect on his first serve, hitting 26 winners while dropping only five points on serve.
Nadal will next play Potito Starace of Italy, who beat eighth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-4, 7-6 (10). Starace saved five set points before forcing the second set tiebreaker.
Nikolay Davydenko rallied in both sets to overcome Filippo Volandri of Italy 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6).
The second-seeded Russian broke Volandri three times in the second set and will next face 12th-seeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina, who beat Pablo Andujar of Spain 7-5, 6-3.
Fourth-ranked David Nalbandian of Argentina downed 2003 winner Carlos Moya 6-4, 6-3.
Nalbandian will next play David Ferrer, who advanced after beating Boris Pashanski of Serbia 6-2, 7-5. The fifth-seeded Spaniard rallied from 4-1 down in the second set.
Ferrer hasn't lost to Nalbandian on clay in three meetings.
