Tennis star Nadal dominates to book fourth straight Barcelona final

Rafael Nadal crushed a minor annoyance in the form of Denis Gremelmayr as the king of clay hammered out a 6-1, 6-0 victory on Saturday to reach a fourth straight final at the Barcelona Open.

Nadal gave his outclassed number 85 opponent a harsh schooling a fortnight after Roger Federer also beat the 26-year-old in an Estoril semi-final.

On that occasion, the German took a set off the startled Swiss on heavy, wet clay.

Nadal, by contrast, achieved another day of near-perfection on his home clay as he won his 20th match at the venue where he suffered his only loss as a teenager in 2003 against Alex Corretja.

"I'm very happy I was able to again play to my best level, I'm happy to reach another final," said the winner.

"I didn't know much about him," Nadal said of Gremelmayr, in only his fourth season at the ATP level with only 43 matches played.

"I knew he played semi-finals in Estoril and he beat some good players to get through today."

The three-time Roland Garros champion will play for his second clay trophy in as many weeks.

He will be aiming for a fourth on the trot at the Real club on Sunday against either fellow Spaniard David Ferrer or Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

Nadal, the winner last weekend over Federer for the Monte Carlo trophy - also a fourth in succession - has now won 19 consecutive matches in Barcelona, claiming 25 straight sets dating to 2006 when Jarkko Nieminen won the first set in their quarter-final.

The 50-minute rout lasted less time than a typical Nadal training session, with the Iberian powerhouse sure to be rested and refreshed for the final.

Nadal has set a tall order for himself to defend all four of the clay crowns he collected last year. Barcelona victory would put him halfway there, with Rome next week and the French Open to follow.

Gremelmayr won his first service game then could not compete against Spain's raging bull.

Nadal won 16 of 18 points on his serve in the first set on his way to sweeping the last 11-games of the one-way contest.

With home tennis in full flow with locals winning six of the last seven editions, should Ferrer also reach the title match, it would mark the third all-Spanish final here in the past four years.