Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2016: Friday Tennis Scores, Results, Schedule
Fabio Fognini gave Rafael Nadal all he could handle during Friday's Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell quarter-final action, but the tournament favourite pulled through with a 6-2, 7-6(1) win.
Nadal dominated the first set but ran into some trouble in the second, when Fognini started playing more unorthodox tennis. The clay specialist elevated his play just in time, however, forcing a tiebreak and grabbing the win.
Defending champion Kei Nishikori also qualified for the next round, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5, 6-0. The Japanese star didn’t have it easy against Dolgopolov, who missed four set points in the first set before crumbling in the second.
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Here’s a look at the full results from Barcelona:
| (2) Kei Nishikori bt. (11) Alexandr Dolgopolov | 7-5, 6-0 |
| (6) Benoit Paire beat Malek Jaziri | 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 |
| (1) Rafael Nadal bt. (12) Fabio Fognini | 6-2, 7-6 (1) |
| Philipp Kohlschreiber bt. Andrey Kuznetsov | 6-3, 6-1 |
To access the schedule for this year’s Barcelona Open, visit the ATP's official website.
Recap
Nadal knew he was handed one of the tougher quarter-final draws with Fognini, who beat him at the U.S. Open last year and has a tendency to play his best tennis against the top players.
But from the very start, there were no reasons to panic. The clay specialist looked in control, finding excellent depth with his groundstrokes and keeping the Italian moving.
TennisTV shared this excellent point from the Spaniard:
Nadal quickly broke Fognini’s serve and appeared to be cruising to an easy win, but some unexpected struggles crept into his play. Fognini actually broke to love to make it 4-2, but unfortunately for him, the setback seemed to wake Nadal up, and he quickly closed out the set from there.
Tennis writer Ricky Dimon noticed the Italian did everything he could to buy some time in between sets:
It didn’t seem to help at first, as Nadal quickly broke Fognini again and stormed out to another lead, but the Italian immediately broke back and managed to slow the pace of the game down a bit.
He took his first lead of the match in the next game, breaking Nadal’s serve again, and the Spaniard visibly started growing frustrated with Fognini, who did an excellent job varying the speed of his shots.
As shared by TennisTV, the Italian was putting on quite the show:
Nadal held serve in the next game, but Fognini was focused on holding his own serve and winning the set at this point. The Italian came very close, defending a break point up 5-4 to make it deuce, but when he needed it the most, Nadal pushed his play to a higher level and broke back.
Dimon was impressed:
Somehow, Fognini saved three match balls with drop shots to force a tiebreak two games later, but in that tiebreak, Nadal stormed out to a lead, handing his opponent just one point on his way to a win.
Nadal had it far from easy against Fognini, who got into the Spaniard's head with unorthodox tennis and some wacky shots few others would dare take. There aren't that many players capable of doing that left in the tournament, and despite the slight dip, Nadal remains the title favourite.
Nishikori entered Friday’s match still looking for his best serve, and it showed during the first set, as Dolgopolov attacked his opponent early and often and wasn’t afraid to step very high into the court to make some plays.
Eyeing the Japanese’s second serve, Dolgopolov fought to find the breakthrough and came agonisingly close in the 10th game. Leading 5-4, the 27-year-old forced no less than four break chances, but every single time, Nishikori survived.
He would eventually win the game, and the defeat proved crushing for Dolgopolov. Nishikori grabbed the first break of the match in the next game before serving out the set.
TennisTV shared the stats from that set:
"#Nishikori serves out the first and this has become an even tougher task for #Dolgopolov. https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC pic.twitter.com/fHfwp4T2rN
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) April 22, 2016"
Dolgopolov’s resolve broke completely in the second set, and he lost the depth on his serve, allowing Nishikori to take more risks in the return game and to grab some easy points.
The defending champion wouldn’t lose another game on his way to the next round, where he’ll meet Benoit Paire.
Per the Associated Press (for the Washington Times), Nishikori claimed the four set points he faced actually helped him: “I struggled a little in the first set, but I played well in the second. It was great to save that set point. After that I was a different player.”
Nishikori hasn’t consistently looked great in Barcelona, but he has found alternative ways to win when one particular aspect of his game wasn’t working. That’s a good sign moving forward, although his serve game and groundstrokes will have to be perfect if he is to beat Nadal.
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