25th of April, 2009

Rafa Nadal eased past Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-2 at the Barcelona Open today to claim his 24th consecutive clay-court win at this event and book a meeting in the final with the winner of the match between David Ferrer and Fernando Gonzales.

The top-ranked, clay-court-specialist took an hour and 46 minutes to send the World No.8 player packing and continue his quest for a fifth straight Godo trophy in the tournament where he’s become a legend. And why wouldn’t he be? He has an outstanding141-4 match record on clay courts since 2005 and is 24-1 lifetime in clay-court finals.

THE MATCH

Davydenko had three break points on the Spanish top seed's serve early in the match but failed to capitalise and Rafa found his range on the clay to break twice and take the opening set.

Davydenko again failed to convert chances to break back after losing his serve in the second set and Rafa sealed victory with a thumping backhand on his first match point.

Vamos Rafa!