Nadal will face Tsitsipas in Barcelona Open final
Rafael Nadal will face a red-hot Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Barcelona Open final after the 11-time champion eased past fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday.
Nadal roared out to a 5-1 lead before Carreno pulled back a break. Carreno then had three break chances on Nadal’s next service game, but the latter saved them all and closed out the set.
Any thoughts of a Carreno comeback were snuffed out when Nadal broke his first service game of the second set in intimidating fashion. Carreno thought he smashed the ball well beyond Nadal’s reach, only for the 20-time Grand Slam winner to angle into position and blast the ball right back past him as Carreno lost his footing and tumbled to the clay.
The top-seeded Nadal, 34, improved to an 8-0 career record against the 13th-ranked Carreno.
“I am very happy to be back in a final here at an historic event, a home event, an important one for me,” Nadal said. “I have been improving every single day a little bit more.”
The second-seeded Tsitsipas advanced after beating Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 for his eighth consecutive straight-set victory, including last week’s title run at Monte Carlo. The Greek’s 26 wins this season are matched only by Andrey Rublev on the men’s circuit.
Tsitsipas beat Nadal in their last meeting in the Australian Open quarterfinals in February, when Tsitsipas rallied from a two-set deficit over four hours. Overall, Nadal holds a 6-2 head-to-head record with Tsitsipas, including a victory in the 2018 Barcelona Open final.
“It feels great to be back [in the final]. I will try to redeem myself from last time,” Tsitsipas said.
A Elsewhere: Top-ranked Ash Barty celebrated her 25th birthday by coming back from a set down to beat the fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 and book her place in the Porsche Grand Prix final at Stuttgart, Germany. Barty will play Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday’s final as she bids for her first clay title since the 2019 French Open. Sabalenka defeated the second-seeded Simona Halep 6-3, 6-2.
ST. THOMAS ADVANCES IN MEN’S NAIA SOCCER
Fernando Arzeno and Felipe Madero each scored second-half goals as St.
Thomas University clinched a bid to the NAIA soccer national championship tournament with a 2-1 victory over Tennessee’s Milligan University in the Lawrenceville Bracket of the NAIA opening round. The NAIA national championship will be held in Columbia County, Georgia, from May 4-10.
ETC.
A Soccer: Kylian Mbappe scored twice and came off with a minor knock as Paris Saint-Germain won at Metz 3-1 and moved to the top of the French league. Lille can return to the top by one point if it wins at Lyon on Sunday. ... Real Madrid stumbled in a tight Spanish league title race after being held at home by Real Betis to 0-0. Madrid was left two points behind leader Atletico Madrid, which can take a big step toward its first title since 2014 if it wins Sunday at Athletic Bilbao. ... Chelsea has made a significant move in the English Premier League’s frenetic race to qualify for the Champions League, a competition the club’s hierarchy secretly tried to destroy in its ill-fated attempt to form a European Super League. A 1-0 win at West Ham, coupled with Liverpool conceding a stoppage-time goal to draw with lowly Newcastle 1-1 at Anfield, saw Chelsea open up a gap to its two main rivals for a top-four finish. With five games remaining in the league, Chelsea occupies the fourth and final Champions
League qualification place — three points ahead of West Ham and four clear of sixthplaced Liverpool.
A Cycling: Frenchman Thibaut Pinot will not compete in the Giro d’Italia because of lingering back pain related to a crash in the Tour de France last year. Pinot, 30, has struggled with injuries since his promising third-place finish in the
Tour de France in 2014.
A Sailing: Skipper Tom Slingsby and defending champion Team Australia won all three fleet races on Bermuda’s Great Sound in an impressive performance on the first day of the second season of the SailGP global league Friday. Slingsby had strong starts in all three races aboard his 50foot foiling catamaran in the eight-boat fleet to take a big lead heading into the final day Sunday. The Australians lead with 30 points, followed by France with 23, Japan 23, the United States 20, Spain 19, Great Britain 17, Denmark 11 and New Zealand 11. The top three teams advance to the winner-take-all final.