Dodig draws Nadal in Barcelona semifinals

BARCELONA, Spain, April 22 (UPI) -- Ivan Dodig claimed a three-set victory Friday and earned a spot against world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Barcelona Open tennis tournament.

Dodig lost his serve twice -- both in the second set -- in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over Feliciano Lopez. Dodig didn't face a break point in the first or third sets and lost only six points on serve in each of those sets.

In Saturday's semifinals Dodig will face Nadal for the first time in his career. Nadal, as he does on clay, has rolled through his opponents this week. No challenger has won more than three games in a set against him this week, including seventh-seeded Gael Monfils, who Nadal beat 6-2, 6-2 Friday, winning 80 percent of his service points.

The other semifinal has fourth-seeded David Ferrer going against No. 8-seeded Nicolas Almagro. Ferrer is 6-0 lifetime against Almagro, although their most recent match was a tight three-set affair at the finals in Acapulco.

Ferrer defeated sixth-seeded Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-3 in his quarterfinal match, while Almagro ousted Juan Carlos Ferrero by the same score.