A red-letter day with Nadal’s 400th on clay
Rafael Nadal has added to his clay-court dominance by reaching yet another milestone on the surface in Barcelona, Spain.
Nadal defeated David Goffin 6-4, 6-0 for his 400th career win on clay yesterday, reaching the Barcelona Open final for the 11th time.
The top-ranked Spaniard will face 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, the first Greek player to make it to an ATP Tour final in 45 years. He defeated fifth-seeded
Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 7-5, 6-3.
Nadal was broken early in the first set by the 10thranked Goffin but quickly took control of the match to earn his 18th straight victory on clay.
“I’m very happy. I played I think my best match of the tournament so far, no doubt about that,” Nadal said. “I have been playing well. I played a very solid match. That’s so important for me. I feel strong.”
He has won 44 consecutive sets on clay, extending his own record.
Nadal is fourth in the list of all-time winners on the surface in the Open era. Guillermo Vilas of Argentina is at the top with 659 wins, ahead of Manuel Orantes of Spain (502) and Thomas Muster of Austria (422).
With a record of 400-35, Nadal has the best winning percentage on clay. He has won a record 54 titles on the dirt.
Nadal needs to win his 11th Barcelona title today to retain his No. 1 ranking. He won his 11th Monte Carlo Masters last week . . . .
CoCo Vandeweghe defeated Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-2 to become the first American to reach the Stuttgart (Germany) Open final since Lindsay Davenport in 2005.
She will face the fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova in today’s final.
Pliskova hit six aces and converted three of her eight break opportunities to beat Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
Vandeweghe and Pliskova will be going for their first singles title of the year.
Vettel takes pole for Azerbaijan GP
Sebastian Vettel qualified in pole position for the third straight time this season ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The Ferrari driver, who leads the championship standings, beat his closest title challenger Lewis
Hamilton by 0.179 seconds to take the top spot for today’s race in Baku.
Yesterday’s cooler, windy conditions seemed to favor Vettel and Ferrari, who had struggled for grip in Friday practice.
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was third, 0.160 seconds off Hamilton’s time, while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was fourth.
Harrison wins again at Drake Relays
World record-holder Kendra Harrison capped the Drake Relays by winning the 100-meter hurdles for the third year in a row in Des Moines, Iowa.
Harrison, running in her first outdoor race of 2018, finished in a wind-aided 12.37 seconds to become the first athlete to win the event three times in a row since local favorite Lolo Jones won four straight from 2005-08.
The men’s 100 race went to Isiah Young in 10.02.