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Ferrer survives scare

Image: Ferrer: made to sweat

Second seed David Ferrer required three sets to see off Nicolas Lapentti in the third round of the Barcelona Open.

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Nadal claims 100th win from 101 clay matches

David Ferrer required three sets to see off Nicolas Lapentti in the third round of the Barcelona Open. Ferrer, seeded second, looked on course for a comfortable afternoon when he raced into a 3-0 lead at the start of the opening set. But world number 83 Lapentti stormed back, winning six of the next seven games to secure the first set. A break in the 10th game of the second set was enough for Ferrer to take it 6-4 and level the match. The Spaniard then broke again in the sixth game of the decider and served it out 6-3 to secure victory in two hours and 31 minutes. Meanwhile, Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela set up a quarter-final with top seed Rafael Nadal after a 2-6 6-4 6-3 win over Latvian Ernests Gulbis. Nadal beat fellow Spaniard and 16th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-3 to claim his 100th win in his last 101 matchers on clay. The top-seeded World number two's run of victories on clay dates back to his first Monte Carlo title in 2005, with his only defeat on the surface in that time coming against World number one Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters last May.