Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal has reached the round-of-16 of the Barcelona Open. The world number five made it past Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva in his opening match at the tournament. The fan favorite lost just three games on his way to progressing to the next in Barcelona 6-1 6-2.
Nadal converted 5-of-7 of his break chances in the match, while his serve got broken once by Dutra Silva. It took an hour and 14 minutes for the game to be concluded.
The Spaniard now has a 2-0 lead over the Brazilian in their head-to-head record. Previously, the two played at the US Open back in 2013, when Nadal handed a three-set loss to Dutra Silva.
Next up Kevin Anderson
Nine-time Barcelona Open champion Rafa Nadal is now set to face Anderson in the last-16 stage. The two have met three times so far in their career on the ATP level -- Nadal has taken each of three matches played. It remains to be seen if Anderson, who defeated Spaniard David Ferrer in the first-round, can make a splash and stun Nadal who is bidding to win his 10th Barcelona title.
Andy Murray through without a fight
World number one Andy Murray has made his way into the Barcelona Open round-of-16 stage a withdrawal from Australia's Bernard Tomic in the second round. The 24-year-old player from Australia was forced to quit the match due to a bad back, according to BBC's Russell Fuller.
British tennis player Murray, who had a first-round bye, has yet to play a match at the tournament this week. If nothing goes wrong, the 29-year-old will be clashing off against veteran Feliciano Lopez. Murray has had much success so far against Spain's Lopez -- winning 10-of-10 matches played against the world number 40. It remains to be seen if 35-year-old Lopez can surprise Murray in front of his home fans in Barcelona.
David Goffin ends on the winning side
World number 10 from Belgium David Goffin will also be featuring the third-round of the Barcelona Open. The Belgian handed a straight sets loss to Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia on Wednesday 7-5 6-0.
A bad back forces Bernard Tomic out of his match with Andy Murray in Barcelona today - Murray into round 3 (without hitting a ball all week)
— Russell Fuller (@russellcfuller) April 26, 2017
Goffin managed to break Basilashvili seven times during the match while getting broken by the Georgian tennis player only once.
The clash lasted an hour and 12 minutes. The 2017 Monte Carlo semi-finalist now has two wins and no losses against Basilashvili.
The 26-year-old Belgian will be fighting next with Russia's Karen Khachanov, who defeated Pablo Cuevas. The two have met once so far in their careers -- Goffin took the win. It remains to be seen whether Goffin can beat Khachanov and potentially leave his mark this year in Barcelona.
