Spaniard Ferrer downs Nalbandian to reach Barcelona semis

BARCELONA, Apr 27 (Reuters) Spaniard David Ferrer reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open for the first time today as he beat fourth seed David Nalbandian of Argentina 7-6 6-2.

The fifth seed squeezed a tight first set and then cruised through the second to clinch victory and set up a clash with top seed Rafael Nadal, or unseeded Italian Potito Starace.

Neither man faced a break point in the opening set but some sloppy play from Nalbandian allowed Ferrer to take the tiebreak 7-5, prompting the Argentine to slam his racket down in disgust.

The loss of the tiebreak seemed to knock Nalbandian's spirit and Ferrer broke serve in the first game of the second set and again in the seventh on his way to his fifth win in their six meetings.

Victory for Nadal over Starace later today would take the world number two's record run of consecutive wins on clay to 70.

It would also move Nadal a step closer to becoming only the second man, after Swede Mats Wilander, to win the Barcelona Open three years in a row.

Second seed Nikolay Davydenko plays Argentine 12th seed Guillermo Canas, while the remaining quarter-final is between another Argentine, 15th seed Agustin Calleri, and unseeded Spaniard Oscar Hernandez.

REUTERS BJR ND1902