Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori reach semi-finals of Barcelona Open
Friday 22 April 2016 19:36, UK
Rafael Nadal has reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open after ending Fabio Fognini's stubborn resistance.
The Spanish top seed fought back from a break down in the second set to seal a 6-2 7-6 win in front of his home support at the clay court tournament.
Nadal is targeting more silverware after winning last week's Monte Carlo Masters, but was made to work for his revenge win over Fognini, who had defeated him at the 2015 Barcelona event.
A shoulder problem had forced Fognini to seek treatment in the opening set, however, the Italian appeared to shrug off the injury as he snatched a break in the second set.
Even after Nadal had broken back, Fognini still fended off a string of match points, until the eight-time former champion eventually sealed victory in the tie-break.
He will now play Philipp Kohlschreiber after the German 10th seed beat Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 6-3 6-1.
Earlier in the day, Kei Nishikori set up a semi-final against Benoit Paire after a 7-5 6-0 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov.
The two-time defending champion had to save four set points before taking the opener, but then brushed aside Dolgopolov to stay on course for a hat-trick of title wins.
Nishikori took full advantage of Dolgopolov's second set slump as the Ukrainian was broken on three more occasions to end with an ugly tally of 32 unforced errors.
The Japanese world No 6 will next face sixth seed Paire, who battled back from a set down to seal a 3-6 7-5 6-1 win over Malek Jaziri.
