Nadal closes in on clay century
Nadal closes in on clay century 
From Simon Cambers in Barcelona, Spain
Former Australian Captain May 01, 2008
RAFAEL Nadal made a smooth start to his bid for a fourth consecutive Barcelona Open title as he powered to a 6-4 6-2 win over Italy’s Potito Starace in the second round.
The top seed and three-time French Open champion continued his winning run following his triumph in Monte Carlo last week and eased to victory in 78 minutes.
The popular victory at the
Real club over the world No.45 left Nadal with an enviable 99 wins out of his past 100 clay matches since winning his first Monte Carlo title in 2005.
Nadal will now play Spanish compatriot Feliciano Lopez, one of his closest friends on tour, for a place in the quarter-finals.
“These courts are quite fast and he is a very dangerous player,'’ Nadal said.
Having beaten world No.1 Roger Federer to win the title in Monte Carlo, Nadal faces a daunting task if he is to defend his Barcelona crown and then go on to win the back-to-back Masters events in Rome and Hamburg.
Changes to the calendar this year to accommodate the Olympic Games mean that Nadal will play four weeks in a row and then have just a week off before the French Open.
“It’s more difficult psychologically than physically,'’ Nadal said.
“Maybe if I wasn’t treated like a rock star here (by the fans) I might not have played.'’
Starace matched Nadal in the early stages and had a break point to lead 3-2 but the Spaniard held on and then broke in the 10th game to win the set.
After the pair traded breaks early in the second set, Nadal broke again in the fourth game and then cruised to victory.
No.2 seed David Ferrer needed just 49 minutes to demolish fellow Spaniard Gabriel Trujillo-Soler, the world No.237. His 6-1 6-1 win earned him a meeting with Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.
No.4 seed James Blake and No.8 Ivo Karlovic were beaten, though.
Blake, who only flew in from the United States on Tuesday, looked ring-rusty as he lost 6-1 6-4 to German Denis Gremelmayr.
“That’s a match I don’t want to think about for too long,'’ Blake said.
“Hopefully I will learn from it for the big tournaments ahead.'’
Karlovic was ousted 6-7 6-3 7-5 by Spaniard Albert Montanes.
No.6 seed Tommy Robredo beat Dutchman Robin Haase 6-2 6-4.
Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka eased past Yuri Schukin, a lucky loser from Kazakhstan, 6-3 6-4 to set up a third-round clash with No.3 seed David Nalbandian.
Reuters