Top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal looks to capture his fourth straight title in Barcelona as he faces second seed and compatriot David Ferrer on Sunday in the final of the Open Sabadell Atlantico, an €888,000 event contested on clay. It is the third all-Spanish final in the past four years.
Nadal leads the head-to-head series 5-3, and won their quarterfinal clash in straight sets last week at ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo. Ferrer is looking to defeat Nadal on clay for the first time since 2004 Stuttgart where he prevailed in three sets in the quarterfinals.
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is contesting his third final of the season (1-2), having won his first title last week at ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo (d. Federer) after falling to Mikhail Youzhny in the Chennai final and to Nikolay Davydenko in the title match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. His fourth successive Monte-Carlo title last week was his 24th career ATP title and his 10th ATP Masters Series shield. The Mallorcan has a 24-8 lifetime record in ATP singles finals and improved his career record to an all-time best 19-1 in clay court finals with his title in Monte Carlo.
Appearing in his third all-Spanish final at the event, the 21-year-old Nadal is chasing his fourth straight title in Barcelona. In the past three years he has defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Robredo and Argentine Guillermo Canas in the final. With a tournament lifetime of 20-1, his only loss came against countryman Alex Corretja in the second round of his debut appearance in 2003. He has advanced to the final this week with victories over Potito Starace, No. 16 seed Feliciano Lopez, Juan Ignacio Chela and Denis Gremelmayr without the loss of a set.
Nadal leads the ATP circuit with 31 match wins this season. Aside from his one title and two runner-up finishes, he was also a semifinalist at the Australian Open for the first time (l. to Tsonga) and at ATP Masters Series Indian Wells (l. to eventual champion Djokovic).
Against fellow Top 10 players, Nadal has a 36-19 lifetime record. En route to the Monte-Carlo title last week he defeated three top ten players – No. 5 David Ferrer, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 1 Roger Federer.
World No. 5 David Ferrer is contesting his second final of the season, having claimed his first title of the campaign, and the sixth of his career, two weeks ago in his home city of Valencia (d. Almagro). He has a 6-4 career record in ATP finals on all surfaces, 4-3 in clay court finals.
The 26-year-old Ferrer is through to his first final in Barcelona, his previous best result was a semifinal finish last year when he lost to Nadal in straight sets. His tournament lifetime stands at 10-5. He has dropped just one set en route to the final this year, defeating Gabriel Trujillo-Soler, Nicolas Lapentti, No. 6 seed Tommy Robredo and No. 14 seed Stanislas Wawrinka.
Ferrer has chalked up a 22-7 year, with four quarterfinal appearances in Auckland (l. to Benneteau), the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic), Dubai (l. to Lopez) and ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal) to support his title run Valencia.
Ferrer has a 19-32 career record against Top Ten Players, losing his past three encounters against No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 3 Novak Djokovic and No. 1 Roger Federer. (ATP Digital Services)
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