By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, April 27, 2018
Students from the Rafa Nadal Academy sat among a packed Barcelona crowd.
On the court below, Rafael Nadal turned a deficit into a teaching moment.
Watch: Nadal Stars In Video Game
The reigning champion showed stubborn resolve saving three set points taming Martin Klizan, 6-0, 7-5, to charge into his 11th Barcelona semifinal.
Empowered by his run to an 11th Monte-Carlo championship on Sunday, Nadal scored his 17th consecutive clay-court victory.
The top seed extended his Open Era-record to 42 consecutive sets won on clay, but saw that streak threatened by the 140th-ranked qualifier who was blown out in the first set and inspired in the second set.
Nine men have beaten Novak Djokovic and Nadal in the same tournament. Klizan, who surprised the sixth-seeded Djokovic on Wednesday, was bidding to become the first man to beat the Grand Slam champions in the same clay-court tournament.
An overwhelming opening set saw Nadal dictate play from all areas of the court.
Unrelenting pressure from Nadal cracked Klizan again. Spreading the court effectively, Nadal drained a running forehand error converting his fourth break point for a 4-0 lead.
The man in black brought a meek end to the opening set double faulting on Nadal's second set point as the Spaniard scored his 41st straight set on clay.
Grunting more vigorously, Klizan broke at 15 to start the second set snapping the shutout and generating some much-needed emotional energy.
The Slovak, who created some sharp angles from his lefty forehand upsetting Djokovic, curled a crosscourt forehand consolidating for 2-0.
Klizan's foot stuck in the clay at the end of a slide as he tumbled to the court in a somersault. Arising from the court, Klizan cranked an ace down the middle to erase a break point working through a hard-fought hold for 3-1.
The 10-time champion was perspiring profusely navigating a demanding deuce hold for 3-4.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Klizan hit two fine drop shots to earn set point at 40-30, but missed the mark with a forehand beyond the baseline.
Slashing a crosscourt forehand, Klizan collected a third set point but Nadal stood strong coaxing an error to draw even at deuce.
No time to rue those missed opportunities as Nadal knifed a backhand down the line for break point. An overly-ambitious Klizan missed a diagonal forehand—his fifth error of the game—sending Nadal into a fist-pumping fury as he leveled 5-all.
Torching a series of diagonal forehands, Nadal changed direction with a heavy forehand down the line, but a sliding Klizan lashed a brilliant forehand pass down the line in the 12th game.
Knocking off a high backhand volley Nadal dropped to a squat furiously fist pumping for match point. Klizan spun a slider serve wide and forehand down line to save it.
On his second match point, Nadal punished his twisting topspin forehand drawing the error to close his 17th straight clay-court win in one hour, 45 minutes.
Continuing his quest for a record-extending 11th Barcelona title, Nadal will face fourth-seeded David Goffin in tomorrow's semifinals.
Goffin rallied past eighth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2, into his third semifinal of the season.
Striking with precision, Goffin scored his third straight win over Bautista Agut, following a 6-4, 7-5, decision in Monte-Carlo last week.
Nadal has not dropped a set in two clay-court wins over Goffin, but the slender Belgian won their last encounter, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4 in London last November.
Staring down a 1-3 first-set deficit, Stefanos Tsitsipas caught fire reeling off five consecutive games to ignite a 6-3, 6-2, sweep of fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem.
Facing Thiem for third time this year, the 19-year-old Greek took charge midway through the opening set and controlled the center of the court for much of the match storming into his first career ATP 500-level semifinal.
The lanky Tsitsipas converted four of eight break points defeating the ATP co-leader in victories. Thiem dropped to 12-3 on clay this season.
Tsitsipas has not surrended a set in four tournament victories, including victories over dangerous clay-court players Diego Schartzman and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The 63rd-ranked Tsitsipas will play Pablo Carreno Busta for a spot in Sunday's final.
The fifth-seeded Spaniard knocked out second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
It is Carreno Busta's third win in four clay-court meetings with the Bulgarian, including a straight-sets triumph at Roland Garros last season.
Today's rematch ended with a tiff. Dimitrov was upset when Carreno Busta declined to replay a point in the tie break that ended when the Bulgarian, believing Carreno Busta had stopped the point, missed a forehand.
Dimitrov felt the Spaniard's stoppage hindered his shot and voiced his displeasure both right after the point and at the post-match handshake.
"As a man, I will remember this," a fuming Dimitrov told Carreno Busta after shaking hands at net.