Nadal wins easily at Barcelona

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — In a bid for his fifth straight title at the Barcelona Open, Rafael Nadal cruised past Frederico Gil 6-2, 6-2 Wednesday in the second round.

Nadal needed just 90 minutes to defeat the qualifier from Portugal on clay at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, where the top-ranked player has won 21 of 22 matches.

He is vying to become the first player to win the Barcelona Open five times in a row. Nadal achieved a similar feat last week at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Nadal broke the 75th-ranked Gil twice in each set, although the Spaniard’s play was far from dazzling.

Gil wasted three straight game points in the second game of the second set before eventually holding his serve to make it 1-1, and forced Nadal to work hard the rest of the way.

Nadal will play the winner between Christophe Rochus of Belgium and Richard Gasquet of France today.

In other matches, third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia beat Arnaud Clement of France 7-6 (2), 6-2. Sixth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain downed Gaston Gaudio of Argentina 7-6 (6), 6-1.

Gaudio did well in the first set, fighting back from two breaks to force a tiebreak after trailing 2-5. But he eventually faded and the Spaniard dominated the second set.

The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.