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| April 28, 2006 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1427 |
Tennis: Erratic Coria crashes out
BARCELONA, April 27: Third seed Guillermo Coria double-faulted his way out of the Barcelona Open on Thursday as he was hammered 6-2, 6-0 by Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, the world number 57, in the third round.
The Argentine double-faulted 14 times and won just six points in the second set as he was beaten in just 51 minutes.
The former French Open runner-up served 23 double faults in one match in Monte Carlo last week.
In the quarter-finals, Almagro will take on the winner of the clash between two former French Open champions, 10th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and Albert Costa.
Later on Thursday, top seed Rafael Nadal was looking to extend his winning streak on clay to 44 matches when he plays Spanish qualifier Ivan Navarro-Pastor.
On Wednesday Nadal started his defence of the title in style a confident 6-4, 6-2 win over fellow-Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
The French Open champion extended his winning streak on clay to 43 matches, three behind second-placed Bjorn Borg in the Open Era list, to set up a third-round match with Spanish qualifier Ivan Navarro-Pastor.
Nadal broke serve in the second game of the match but immediately dropped his own as Lopez stayed in touch early on thanks to some big serving.
Two double faults helped Nadal break to win the opening set and he broke again in the sixth and eighth games of the second to clinch victory.
Second seed Nikolay Davydenko's title hopes were blown away in a 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 defeat to Croat Ivo Karlovic.
Davydenko, a semifinalist at the French Open last year, could not cope with the Karlovic serve, failing to convert any of his six break points.
Ferrero outslugged fellow Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-4, 7-6 to reach the last 16.
The 10th seed, runner-up to Nadal last year, was a break down at 4-3 in the first set but took three games in succession to move ahead.
Ferrero, the world number 28, led 3-0 in the second but Martin forced a tiebreak, only for his compatriot to romp through 7-1.
Ferrero will next meet another former French Open champion from Spain, Albert Costa, who postponed his intended retirement for another day at least with a shock 6-3, 7-5 victory over eighth seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia.
Thursday’s results:
Third round: Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) bt Evgeny Korolev (Russia) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5); Nicolas Almagro (Spain) bt 3-Guillermo Coria (Argentina) 6-2, 6-0.
Wednesday’s results:
Second round: 4-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) bt Filippo Volandri (Italy) 3-6, 7-6, 6-4; 12-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt Agustin Calleri (Argentina) 7-5, 6-4 Ivan Navarro (Spain) bt Daniel Gimeno Traver (Spain) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5; 1-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-4, 6-2; 6-Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt Potito Starace (Italy) 6-4, 6-0; Albert Costa (Spain) bt 8-Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-3, 7-5; Karlovic bt 2-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-7 (7-9), 7-5, 6-4; Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) bt Carlos Cuadrado (Spain) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; 10-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Alberto Martin (Spain) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1); Korolev bt Fernando Vicente (Spain) 6-3, 6-0; Albert Portas (Spain) bt 9-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; 7-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 6-1, 6-2.—Reuters
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