Rafa Nadal will play this Sunday (16:00, La1 and Vamos) against Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th in the ranking) the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell after getting rid of Pablo Carreño in a comfortable game (6-3 and 6-2) and will seek his twelfth title in Barcelona. A capital company, as Nadal will face a Tsitsipas who has not given up a single set in the entire tournament (not in Monte Carlo either) and who this year has 17 in favor on clay for none against. Nadal did not have excessive problems to go to the final, despite the fact that Carreño fought more than the score shows.
Carreño had to sweat to add his first game (3-1) after Nadal dominated the first two with an iron fist. With one blank and another breaking the serve, Rafa was much more comfortable. Both with respect to his rival (against whom he has never lost) and with respect to his previous matches in the tournament. The game won by Carreño, in addition, was the result of his good tennis and not mistakes of a Nadal who wanted to qualify for the final on the fast track. In fact, the Spaniard saved several break balls that would have accelerated the heat.
With 5-1 on the scoreboard Nadal lowered the piston a bit and made some mistakes that Carreño did not miss. An unforced failure, a double fault … enough for the Spaniard to get the break and get fully into the game: I play with three aces and 5-3. He even threatened the second break, but lost his option. Nadal took the sleeve (6-3) but with a growing Carreño that made the last game very difficult for him.
Without an efficient serve, the game began to get very complicated for Carreño. He lost the first game with a serve, Rafa won the second, and lost the third again. 3-0 with a double break in favor of Nadal, who also won the fourth blank. An impossible slope to overcome for Carreño, who kept fighting and won two more games. No longer pressure, going back to Nadal like that was an impossible mission, the Asturian offered good blows and forced the manacorí to sweat his pass to the final.