By Nick Georgandis
Photo Credit: Mark Howard
(April 22, 2011) Good Friday was a great Friday for world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who cruised past Gael Monfils for a 6-2, 6-2 win in the quarterfinals of the ATP Barcelona Open. Nadal improved to 8-1 all-time against Monfils, and won his 499th career match in the process. His next opponent will be decided later today when Feliciano Lopez matches up against Ivan Dodig.
On Friday, Nadal broke Monfils’ serve four times in nine tries and lost just eight points on serves to the Frenchman. Nadal missed Barcelona in 2010 because of an injury, after winning the title here each season from 2005-2009.
Other quarterfinals set for today include Jurgen Melzer vs. David Ferrer, Dodig vs. Lopez and Nicolas Almagro vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero. Nadal is now a sterling 27-4 on the season, and of his 499 career wins, 211 have come on clay courts against a paltry 16 losses. He’s in search of his 31st clay court title.