Nadal Records 500th Win To Reach Final

© AFP/Getty ImagesRafael Nadal is through to his sixth Barcelona final.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal recorded his 500th tour-level victory on Saturday as he reached the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Croatian Ivan Dodig.

The 24-year-old Nadal is the second youngest player ever to achieve the milestone of 500 career match wins after Bjorn Borg, who was 23 years, 7 months old. The Spaniard was later presented with a celebratory cake after his press conference.

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Nadal will look to win his sixth title at the ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tournament in Barcelona when he faces countryman David Ferrer in Sunday’s final. Nadal takes a 12-4 career lead into the clash, including victory over Ferrer in the 2008 and 2009 Barcelona finals and in last week’s title match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

The top seed Nadal, who won five successive titles at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899 between 2005-2009, did not have it all his own way against the No. 56-ranked Dodig. The Croat, who had beaten Robin Soderling, Milos Raonic and Feliciano Lopez to reach the semi-finals, consistently proved to be a thorn in Nadal’s side before succumbing in 87 minutes.

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Nadal won the opening eight points of the semi-final, before Dodig settled into the occasion and reeled off three straight games for a 3-2 lead. Nadal soon restored his authority, though, as he broke serve twice more to seal the opening set. The second set was a similar story. Nadal let slip an early break advantage, but won four of the last five games to claim the milestone victory.

“Maybe I didn’t play my best tennis today but I’m very happy to be through to another final here in Barcelona,” said Nadal. “I expect a very difficult match tomorrow. David will play aggressively, with high intensity as always. He makes you play every point and I will have to play great tennis to win.”

Nadal is riding a 33-match winning streak on clay, with his last defeat coming to Robin Soderling in the Roland Garros fourth round in 2009. Since then he has won 73 of 76 sets on the clay. The left-hander is chasing his 31st tour-level clay-court title.