Nadal rolls; top-seeded Ferrer ousted in Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain – Two-time reigning and seven-time overall champion Rafael Nadal was an easy winner, while top-seeded David Ferrer suffered a second-round upset Wednesday at the $2.23 million Barcelona Open tennis event.

The second-seeded former world No. 1 Nadal cruised past Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 6-2, while oft-injured resurgent Russian Dmitry Tursunov, a qualifier this week, toppled the world No. 4 and four-time Barcelona runner- up Ferrer 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 on the red clay on a sunny, but windy day at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona.

Nadal, who has now won his last 35 matches in Barcelona, beat Ferrer in the last two all-Spanish finals here and also defeated Ferrer in the 2008 and 2009 title tilts.

"Right now, I think things are going well," said Nadal, who has appeared in five straight ATP finals since returning from a knee-injury-induced seven- month layoff. "After everything that has happened, simply to be competing in these tournaments makes me happy."

The French Open champion lost to Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Masters final last week.

Nadal's third-round opponent on Thursday will be rising Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro eased into the third round with a 6-1, 7-5 decision against Croat Ivan Dodig on Day 3, fifth-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic cruised past Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 6-2, and seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco mauled Aussie Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-2.

Another Wednesday upset came when Spaniard Albert Ramos took out 6-foot-8 ninth-seeded Pole Jerzy Janowicz 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

In other second-round action, 11th-seeded Slovak Martin Klizan beat Spanish wild card Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-4; a 13th-seeded Paire snuck past Spain's Pablo Andujar 6-4, 5-7, 6-3; former top-five Spanish favorite Tommy Robredo doused 14th-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 6-1; and 15th-seeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers blitzed Slovenian Blaz Kavcic 6-3, 6-1. Robredo captured this event in 2004 before his fellow countryman Nadal embarked on a string of five straight championships. Robredo lost to Nadal in the 2006 Barcelona finale.

In some other scheduled third-round action on Thursday, third-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych will face the former world No. 5 Robredo and Almagro will tangle with his fellow Spaniard Granollers.