BARCELONA, Spain, April 26 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal scored his 43rd straight victory on clay Wednesday, beating Feliciano Lopez, 6-4, 6-2, in the second round at the Open SEAT 2006 tennis event.
The top-seed and defending Barcelona champ, Nadal has the third-longest clay-court winning streak in ATP history, behind Argentine great Guillermo Vilas (53) and Swedish legend Bjorn Borg (46).
Nadal, ranked second in the world, won the clay-court title at the Monte-Carlo Masters last weekend, beating world No. 1 Roger Federer in the final.
Nadal is 18-3 this season, including titles in Dubai and Monte-Carlo. He will face fellow Spaniard, qualifier Ivan Navarro Pastor, on Thursday.
Wednesday's action featured some upsets.
Croat Ivo Karlovic beat second-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, 6-7 (7-9), 7-5, 6-4, and retiring Spaniard Albert Costa beat eighth-seeded Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty, 6-3, 7-5.
No. 4 Czech Radek Stepanek beat Italian Filippo Volandri, 3-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-4, and No. 6 Spaniard Tommy Robredo beat Italian Potito Starace, 6-4, 6-0.
