Tennis
Nadal nails down fourth straight Barcelona final
By DPA
May 3, 2008, 15:51 GMT

Barcelona - Clay-court monster Rafael Nadal swept the last 11 games for a ruthless 6-1, 6-0 Saturday win over German Denis Gremelmayr to stand just a victory away from a fourth consecutive title at the Barcelona Open.

The top seed and world number two who claimed a fourth Monte Carlo crown last weekend over Roger Federer, spent just 50 minutes in dismantling the 85th-ranked German who had won a set off the Swiss last month in Estoril.

But there was not chance of that in Spain, with a home public at the Real club in the Catalan capital roaring their hero Nadal to his fast win.

Nadal won 50 of the 65 points, leaving the scraps to the outclassed Gremelmayr.

Nadal now stands 20-1 in Barcelona, where his only loss came in 2003 against Alex Corretja, one of his mentors.

The winner will take on either second-seeded compatriot David Ferrer or Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, who reached the last four in the city two years ago.

Nadal is aiming to defend all four of the clay honours he collected last spring and stands one-for-one after Monte Carlo.

He also won Barcelona, Rome and Paris in 2007, while losing the Hamburg final to Federer in a 6-0 final set.

Gremelmayr's only successful moment in the match came as he held serve on his first try; then it was all over as Nadal put on a master class.

Spaniards have claimed six of the last seven Barcelona titles, with only Wawrinka standing in the way of another in the series.