Rafa Nadal sets up final with Kei Nishikori at Barcelona Open

Wednesday 27 April 2016 09:39, UK

Rafa Nadal will face Kei Nishikori in the Barcelona Open final after a straight-sets win over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The Spanish top seed has impressed since switching to his preferred clay-court surface and he overpowered Kohlschreiber as he prevailed 6-3 6-3.

Nadal had won all but one of his previous 13 meetings with the German and was rarely troubled over the two sets, offering just one break point on his own serve.

The world No 5 started his clay campaign by winning last week's Monte Carlo Masters and he can add a second trophy if he defeats defending champion Nishikori, who earlier claimed a 6-3 6-2 win over Benoit Paire.

Nishikori has won the tournament for the last two years and extended his winning run to 14 matches ahead of Sunday's final.

The semi-final meeting with Paire had appeared a potential stumbling block for Nishikori, who had lost his last two matches against the talented Frenchman.

But Paire offered little resistance in the opening set and was broken twice by the Japanese player, who dropped just three points on his own serve.

Paire broke back in the second set, but swiftly surrendered his serve again and Nishikori converted his third match point to seal victory in just an hour and six minutes.