BARCELONA // Rafael Nadal quickly overcame French seventh seed Gael Monfils with a 6-2, 6-2 quarter-final victory yesterday which put the five-time champion into his accustomed weekend place at the Barcelona Open.
Spaniards have dominated for the past decade, with only a 2002 title from Argentine Gaston Gaudio interrupting Iberian success dating to Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2001.
Nadal took just 75 minutes to post his 32nd consecutive victory on clay; he last lost on the surface against Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open fourth round.
"A 6-2, 6-2 is very positive, it's more than I expected," said the winner.
"To win Monte Carlo last week and now to be in the Barcelona semi-finals, it's really positive.
"I couldn't have started the clay season any better, but I have to keep on working."
In other matches yesterday at the Real Club de Tenis, Nadal's fellow Spaniard and fourth seed, David Ferrer, also booked his semi-final spot with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over Jurgen Melzer, the Austrian.
Nadal, the Spanish world No 1 will face Ivan Dodig in the semi-finals. The Croatian world No 56 survived a second-set wobble and caused a minor upset by defeating yet another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Ferrer will face Nicolas Almagro in the second semi-final after the 25-year-old world No 11 saw off Spanish compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3 in last night's final match.
Nadal has stormed through the field so far this year, losing just ten games in three matches.
He has eight wins from nine meetings with Monfils, who was playing in only his second event since a wrist injury forced him out in February.
Nadal improved to 28-1 in Barcelona as he was untroubled by Monfils on a grey cloudy day after morning rain which produced the heavy clay conditions so favoured by Nadal. The Spaniard never faced a break point in the one-way contest while breaking Monfils four times.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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