BARCELONA: Kei Nishikori of Japan plays a return to Santiago Giraldo of Colombia during their match at the Barcelona Open on Thursday.—AP

BARCELONA: Rafa Nadal’s bid to get back to top form before the French Open suffered a setback when he crashed to a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) defeat to 13th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini in the third round of the Barcelona Open on Thursday.

Nadal, the world number four and second seed, produced an erratic performance on the clay in the Catalan capital and the big-hitting Fognini punished the Spaniard’s errors to end Nadal’s bid for a ninth Barcelona title.

Nadal had eased past Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-1 to reach the third round on Wednesday, while Fognini had rallied after going a set down to beat Andrey Rublev of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Fognini, who beat Nadal on clay in the semi-finals in Rio de Janeiro in February, his only win in five previous meetings, will play unseeded Spaniard Pablo Andujar in Friday’s quarter-finals. Andujar upset compatriot and fifth seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 earlier on Thursday.

There were no worries for defending champion Kei Nishikori, meanwhile as he thrashed Colombian 15th seed Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-1.

The world number five will face Roberto Bautista Agut on Friday after the Spaniard overcame Pablo Cuevas 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

Results:

Third round: Fabio Fognini (ITA x13) bt Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) 6-4, 7-6 (8/6); Kei Nishikori (JPN x1) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL x15) 6-2, 6-1; Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x7) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU x10) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2; David Ferrer (ESP x3) bt Elias Ymer (SWE) 6-3, 6-4; Martin Klizan (SVK x14) bt Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) 6-4, 6-3; Pablo Andujar (ESP) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP x5) 6-3, 6-4; Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x12) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 6-4, 7-6 (8/6); Tommy Robredo (ESP x9) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 6-2, 6-2.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2015

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