BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal's clay-court woes mounted Thursday at the Barcelona Open with another loss.
The eight-time champion lost to Fabio Fognini 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the third round, a year after his 41-match winning streak ended in the quarterfinals.
After losing the first set, Nadal appeared to have rebounded by breaking his Italian opponent three times in the second set, but Fognini answered each time.
In the tiebreaker, Nadal trailed 6-3 but came back to 6-6. Fognini then went ahead and Nadal drove a shot long for only his third loss at the tournament.