Nadal wins twice Friday at Barcelona Open

BARCELONA, Spain, April 26 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals and ran his Barcelona Open winning streak to 37 matches with two wins Friday.

With rain halting play Thursday there were five third-round matches that had to be completed before the quarterfinals. All nine matches were finished Friday.

Nadal, the No. 2 seed, has won the tournament seven of the last eight years, sitting out the event in 2010. He opened the day with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 win over 13th-seeded Benoit Paire, winning about three-quarters of the points on serve.

Albert Ramos defeated sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) early Friday in earning a shot at Nadal, but Nadal needed just 65 minutes to post a 6-3, 6-0 win over Ramos. Nadal won the first three games and the last seven against Ramos.

Nadal draws fifth-seeded Milos Raonic in the semifinals. Raonic also played twice Friday, beating Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) and finishing the day's schedule with a 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) decision over Tommy Robredo. Raonic saw just two break points in the matches.

Fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro beat No. 7-seeded Juan Monaco 6-3, 7-5 and eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber gained a semifinal slot when 16th-seeded Thomaz Bellucci withdrew prior to their quarterfinal.

Kohlschreiber was a 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5) winner over 11th-seed Martin Klizan early Friday. Almagro, Monaco and Bellucci got their third-round matches in Thursday.

Nadal, who has reached the finals of all five tournaments he's been in this year, has won both times he previously played Raonic, while Almagro owns a 4-3 series edge over Kohlschreiber.