By DPA,
Barcelona : Rafael Nadal hammered a German with ease while David Ferrer had to fight through against a Swiss as the top Spanish pair set up an all-Iberian final at the Barcelona Open tennis.
Nadal won the last 11 games for a ruthless 6-1, 6-0 trouncing of German Denis Gremelmayr in 51 minutes Saturday to move to within one victory from a fourth consecutive title on the clay of the Real club.
Ferrer took 73 minutes to claim his opening set over Stanislas Wawrinka on his way to a 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 decision in just under two hours with a pair of breaks in the second set.
Nadal, 5-3 in his series with Ferrer, beat his compatriot last week in the Monte Carlo quarter-finals on his way to that title, his fourth in succession at the principality.
But the world number one clay monster was not resting on a week full of straight-set wins going into his contest with 85th-ranked Gremelmayr, who took a set off of Roger Federer at Estoril a fortnight ago.
But there was no chance of that in Spain, with a home public in the stands in the Catalan capital roaring their hero to his rapid-fire win.
“I didn’t know much about him. I knew he played semi-finals in Estoril and he beat some good players to get through to the semis here,” Nadal said of Gremelmayr.
“Today I tried to be focussed. Even with a big lead I didn’t want to lose concentration. I knew Gremelmayr had a good clay season so I went onto the court with a lot of respect,” said Nadal, 20-1 in Barcelona.
“I only concentrated on focussing and playing my game.”
Nadal won 50 of the 65 points, leaving the scraps to his outclassed opponent.
“I’m very happy I was able to again play to my best level, I’m happy to reach another final,” said the winner.
Nadal is aiming to defend all four of the clay honours he collected last spring and stands one-for-one after Monte Carlo.
He also won Barcelona, Rome and Paris in 2007, while losing the Hamburg final to Federer in a 6-0 final set.
Gremelmayr’s only successful moment in the match came as he held serve on his first try; then it was all over as Nadal put on a master class.
Spanish players have won the last five Barcelona editions, with Tommy Robredo in 2004 and Carlos Moya a year earlier preceeding Nadal’s hat-trick, while it has been an all-Spanish affair in three of the last four finals.