BARCELONA — Rafa Nadal eased past Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-1 to reach the Barcelona Open third round on Wednesday as he began his bid for a ninth title on the clay in the Catalan capital.
Nadal, the world number four and second seed, comfortably dismissed the unseeded Almagro, who is battling back after foot surgery that sidelined him for the second half of last year and has dropped out of the top 100.
The pair met in the 2013 Barcelona final, when Nadal claimed his eighth title, before 2015 top seed Kei Nishikori of Japan won last year's event after Almagro surprised Nadal in the quarter-finals.