BARCELONA, Spain — Eight-time winner Rafael Nadal beat 12th-seeded Fabio Fognini 6-2, 7-6 (1) to advance to the semifinals of the Barcelona Open on Friday, avenging a loss to the Italian at the tournament last year.
The top-seeded Spaniard broke Fognini three times to take the first set but had to fight back from 4-2 down to force a tiebreaker in the second, which Nadal won when Fognini's poorly hit return went wide.
Nadal faces his first semifinal on Barcelona's outdoor clay court since he won his eighth title in 2013. He plays 10th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber on Saturday after the German brushed aside Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-1.