Valencia Website
April 7, 2024
Rafael Nadal hit a total of five aces in his 6-1, 6-4 win over Guillermo Garica-Lopez to advance to the quarterfinals of the III Open de Tenis de la Comunidad Valenciana. After winning his opening serve in the longest game of the match (6 deuce), the 18-year-old from Mallorca won a long first set 6-1 in 44 minutes. In the second set, Nadal broke Garcia-Lopez's serve in the first game and held on to win 6-4.
Nadal now looks for his third title of the season after claiming Costa du Sauipe and Acapulco. He is now 12-1 on clay this year (24-5 overall) and will look for a spot in the semifinals against Igor Andreev. By reaching the last four in Valencia, Nadal will move to the third spot in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race behind Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt.
"I played well, my legs felt better today. I thought the first set was actually harder than the second but I feel good because I never had any problems when I was serving." Nadal said.
"I'm happy to be in the quartefinals. It is not easy after coming from Miami. Whatever I do from now is a good win. There are some points at stake."
"He (Igor Andreev) has improved a lot lately. He beat Ferrero in Roland Garros last year. I'm going to have to be very focused to win."
Alberto Martin was relentless in his 6-2, 6-0 victory over Gustavo Kuerten in only 50 minutes of play. The 26-year-old Spaniard used his great court coverage and heavy spin from his groundstrokes to stop Kuerten bid to his first quarterfinal since 2004 Roland Garros.
With the win, Martin reaches his third quarterfinal in ATP clay court events in 2005 after Buenos Aires (lost to Gaudio in semifinal), and Costa du Sauipe (lost to Nadal in final). He is now 12-8 (8-3 on clay) and will face the winner of David Ferrer and Iraki Labadze for a place in the semifinals.
In the first match of the day, No. 7 seed Igor Andreev overcame a tough first set to defeat Italian Potito Starace 7-5, 6-1 and advanced to his first quarterfinal in 2005.
AlSO: RAFAEL NADAL paid a visit to tournament sponsor Inversis and also gave exclusive interviews to TVE and Canal 9.
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