Partnerforenbewerbung » Top-ranked Rafael Nadals clay-court struggles

BARCELONA, Spain -- Top-ranked Rafael Nadals clay-court struggles worsened Friday as his 41-match winning streak at the Barcelona Open ended with a three-set loss to Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals. Nadal was looking for his ninth title in Barcelona but lost 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, a week after going out in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters to David Ferrer. Nadal, widely considered the greatest clay-court player of all time, hadnt lost in Barcelona since his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, although he missed the tournament in 2010. He had not dropped a set here since the 2008 final. The 20th-ranked Almagro converted his second match point, smashing a forehand down the line for his first career victory over his fellow Spaniard on the 11th try. "I had a lot of opportunities in the second set," Nadal said. "I didnt take advantage of break points, so credit goes to him." After failing to convert any of his five break points in the second set, Nadal missed a return in the tiebreaker to give Almagro a 6-5 lead. Almagro followed up with a crosscourt forehand winner to level the match and end Nadals streak of 44 straight sets at the tournament. Both players were steady on serve until an exchange of breaks made it 4-4 in the third, and Nadal then sent a shot long to be broken again and give Almagro a chance to serve for the match. Nadal set up two straight chances to break back, but hit a forehand long and then sent a smash into the net with Almagro out of position. Nadal then saved the first match point when Almagros backhand flew wide. But Almagro used a serve-and-volley to save a third break point of the game before Nadals long return set up the second match point. Nadal hadnt been eliminated this early in back-to-back clay-court tournaments since 2004, when as an 18-year-old he also failed to get past the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Bastad. "This is an important win for my career," said Almagro, who celebrated wildly. Almagro will face Santiago Giraldo in Saturdays semifinals after Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3. Earlier, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia overpowered opponents to set up a semifinal meeting. The fourth-seeded Nishikori continued his good run since returning from a groin injury with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic of Croatia, while the ninth-seeded Gulbis dismissed Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Gulbis saved all five break points against Gabashvili, who had knocked out the fifth-ranked Ferrer. Justin Reid Jersey .ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen, NFL Editor Ben Fisher, and Isaac Owusu discuss three hot fantasy football topics. Martinas Rankin Jersey . The 10-horse field of 3-year-old pacers will leave the starting gate at approximately 10:14pm et. Co-owned and trained by David Menary, Hes Watching will be driven by Tim Tetrick and is the 5-1 fourth selection in the field. http://www.thetexansfootballpro.us/texan...rsey-authentic/. - Jayden Hart scored once and set up two more as the Prince Albert Raiders downed the host Red Deer Rebels 5-3 on Tuesday to clinch the final Western Hockey League playoff berth. Keke Coutee Texans Jersey . The thinking at the time was Clowney could have already been promised he would be selected first overall by the Houston Texans, therefore negating any need to meet with any other teams. The plot took another twist this week. Jordan Akins Texans Jersey . - Connor McDavid scored twice and added two assists as the Erie Otters beat the Sarnia Sting 7-3 on Saturday night in Ontario Hockey League action.KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia rallied to beat Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Friday and reach the semifinals of the Malaysian Open. The 10th-ranked Cibulkova saved 20 break points to prevail over her sixth-seeded opponent after more than 2 1/2 hours. Cibulkova will play third-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who defeated Caglla Buyukakcay of Turkey, 6-4, 6-4.dddddddddddd In the other semifinal, second-seeded Shuai Zhang of China will take on Donna Vekic of Croatia. The 45th-ranked Zhang fought off 10 break points to beat Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. Vekic, who is yet to win a title on the circuit, hit 10 aces to overcome fourth-seeded Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria 6-4, 7-5. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Discount Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Outlet Cheap NFL Black Jerseys ' ' '