Barcelona, Apr 24: Juan Carlos Ferrero rounded off a great day for Spanish seeds as he completed a 6-4 6-3 win and move into the third round of the one-million-euro ATP Barcelona Open yesterday over Argentine Franco Squillari.
The top-seeded winner of the Monte Carlo title last Sunday showed his build-up for the French Open was gathering pace with a comprehensive victory. The 22-year-old was joined by two senior compatriots.
Veteran Alex Corretja ended the giant-killing run of teenaged Rafael Nadal, holding off an early assault from the young Spaniard to survive 3-6 6-2 6-1.
A week after stunning reigning French Open holder Albert Costa in the first round in Monte Carlo, strapping 16-year-old Nadal set his sights on another leading member of his nation's legendary clay-court armada.
Corretja struggled in a tight first set, but stepped it up in the second and third to see off the young pretender, who is tipped fast to become a force in the game.



Nadal claimed the opening set on his eighth set point, forcing Corretja to pull out all of the tricks in his arsenal to stay alive.



Corretja reached into the veteran's tennis toolkit which have led him to a pair of Roland Garros runner-up spots to eventually dominate against the tiring teen.



"I'm a bit angry because I wasn't able to win," admitted Nadal, who beat reigning Roland Garros holder Albert Costa last week in the Monte Carlo first round.



"Corretja showed he wasn't afraid to mix it up with a young guy. He made me play defensive tennis in the second and third sets. That's not the game I'm comfortable with."


Bureau Report