Nadal reaches Barcelona final with 500th win
World number one Rafael Nadal chalked up his 500th tour-level victory by beating Ivan Dodig to book his place in the final of the Barcelona Open today.
The Spaniard brushed aside the Croatian 6-3 6-2 in one hour 27 minutes to set up a final meeting with fellow countryman David Ferrer.
The fourth seed, whom Nadal beat in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters last week, was a 6-3 6-4 winner over another Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro.
Nadal put Dodig’s weak second serve to the sword, breaking three times in each set.
He won 72% of points on his opponent’s second serve, with the Croatian only managing 48% of first serves.
Dodig did manage a break in each set, but he was never in the contest.
Ferrer was less clinical than Nadal as he converted just three of his 12 break points to see off Almagro.
He broke twice from seven opportunities in the first set and once from five in the second as Almagro’s challenge faltered.
