On another blistering day in Barcelona, top seed Kei Nishikori found himself in his toughest match so far on the road to defending his Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell title against the tricky Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut.
The defending champion beat seventh-seeded Bautista-Agut 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 for a place in the semifinals. The match was a rematch of last year’s second round where Kei also beat the Spaniard on road to his first Barcelona crown.
Kei hit 25 winners past his opponent and saved one of the two break points he faced in the 1 hour 40 minutes. The top seed will next play 14th-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia for a place in the final for a second year running.
The 14th seed broke Spanish hearts for the second time of the day on centre court by beating clay-court veteran Tommy Robredo. The 2004 champion and ninth-seeded Robredo couldn’t live with the big hitting from his opponent who came through the match comfortably 7-6(5) 6-4 for a spot in the semi-finals.
Nishikori and Klizan have clashed once before, in the first round of last year’s Roland Garros, which Klizan surprisingly won in straight sets to end the Japanese Star’s great clay run in 2014. Nishikori looks in imperious form despite dropping the second set in his earlier match. It will prove to be a tough one, but Kei looks focused on defending his title in Barcelona.
In the third match of the day it was the turn of the Spanish terrier David Ferrer who took on tricky German Philipp Kohlschreiber in front of a packed crowd. The third seed advanced to the semifinals after a straightforward win in little under 2 hours.
Ferrer produced his usual clay-court barrage against his German opponent, chasing down balls and with the full support of the home crowd behind him he made life very difficult for Kohlschreiber in the baking sun.
Ferrer managed to save five of the nine break points he faced on serve, which will stand him in good stead tomorrow when the four-time finalist will take on Pablo Andujar for a chance at a fifth Barcelona final.
Adujar set up an all-Spanish semifinal after ousting Nadal’s conqueror Fabio Fognini in a very one sided affair. The Spaniard saved 2 out of the 3 break points he faced on serve and held his nerve throughout.
Fognini looked a shadow of the man who defeated Nadal on Thursday; his game was error-strewn throughout, enabling Andujar to keep plugging away at his opponent, breaking him five times in total to eventually secure the match 6-1 6-3 in just over an hour.
The all Spanish affair will be much anticipated on Saturday afternoon with spectators hoping for a close encounter; they’re guaranteed a Spaniard in the final no matter what the outcome. Ferrer will go into the match as the heavy favourite given his 3-0 H2H against his compatriot, whom he last met in Hamburg in 2014. All of their previous meetings have been on clay with Ferrer never dropping a set against Adujar.
The semifinals are set: Kei Nishikori will take on Martin Klizan while David Ferrer battle Pablo Andujar in the all Spanish affair. Expect some great matches tomorrow, with Nishikori and Ferrer expected in Sunday’s final.
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