Nadal thrashes Goffin, faces teen Tsitsipas in Barca final

World No.1 Rafael Nadal will face Greek teen Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Barcelona Open final after the 10-time winner thrashed David Goffin in straight sets.

Nadal thrashes Goffin to set up Barca final with teenager Tsitsipas

Rafael Nadal Source: Reuters

Rafael Nadal has booked a place in the Barcelona Open final by breezing past David Goffin 6-4 6-0 with his 18th successive claycourt win and 400th overall on the surface.

World No.1 Nadal will meet Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday's showpiece when he will target a record-extending 11th title in Barcelona a week after claiming the Monte Carlo Masters for the 11th time.

Nadal has won every final he has played in Barcelona.

The Mallorcan got off to a slow start in the semi-final on the Rafael Nadal Court as he surrendered his service in the opening game and 10th-ranked Goffin held to take a 2-0 lead.

Nadal immediately broke back to level and the home favourite broke again in the 10th to take the first set.

The Spaniard came into his own in the second while Goffin, who had to play three sets against Roberto Bautista Agut in the last quarter-final on Friday, began to wilt.

The Belgian finally came out fighting in the sixth game but eventually succumbed to claycourt specialist Nadal, surrendering serve for the third time in the set by firing a shot beyond the baseline, ending a match lasting one hour 22 minutes.

"I think I played my best match of the tournament so far," Nadal told the ATP website. "It was a great first set - both of us played to a very high level."

Greek 19-year-old Tsitsipas stormed into his first ATP final by beating Spain's world No.11 Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5 6-3.

Tsitsipas had pulled off the biggest win of his career on Friday before by stunning last year's finalist and world No.7 Dominic Thiem in straight sets and was the underdog against Carreno Busta, who is ranked 52 places above him.

"Stefanos is a great player - the youngsters always have something special and he's playing with confidence, so I need to be ready to play at the highest level possible," Nadal said.

The youngster got off to a flying start as he broke his opponent in the second game and marched into a 4-1 lead. The Spaniard hit back with a break to level at 5-5 but wasted a chance to break again and lost his serve to concede the set.

Tsitsipas broke the 27-year-old for a third time to pull 4-2 ahead in the second and eventually served out the match, collapsing to the ground in elation as he won on his second match point when Carreno Busta hit beyond the baseline.


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3 min read
Published 29 April 2018 8:01am
Updated 29 April 2018 8:03am
Source: AAP

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