Nadal, Ferrer to meet in fourth Barcelona final

Rafael Nadal crushed Fernando Verdasco for the 13th time in his career yesterday to set up a fourth Barcelona Open final with long-time rival David Ferrer.

The showdown will be a repeat of the 2008, 2009 and 2011 finals which were all won by Nadal.

French Open champion Nadal, who is fresh from winning an unprecedented eighth straight title at Monte Carlo last weekend, overwhelmed Verdasco 6-0, 6-4 in just 85 minutes with four breaks of serve.

Third seed Ferrer had a tougher afternoon, requiring just over two hours in defeating huge-serving Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5).

“I’m happy to reach a fourth final. It’s a special relationship I have with this tournament,” said Ferrer, who had said it would be the culmination of his career to lift the trophy.

“I hope I can finally fulfil my dream of finally winning here.”

Nadal has dominated the Barcelona event, winning six titles in seven previous appearances. On the one occasion he didn’t play – he missed 2010 with knee problems – Verdasco took the honours.

Nadal’s victory was his 38th winning semi-final in a row on clay, with his last loss coming against Carlos Moya in August 2003.

Raonic had turned in a breakthrough week on the clay of the Real Club de Tenis, winning all of his matches in straight sets.

He defeated Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and upset second-seeded, Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.

“It was very tough to beat Raonic,” said Ferrer.

“We each had chances but it came down to winning on the key points. He has a huge forehand and he’s very difficult to break.”