Nadal storms into final

Rafael Nadal kept alive his hopes of an eighth title at the Barcelona Open on Saturday as he waited out a rain delay before hammering Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-0 in their semifinal.

The second seed will face Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro on Sunday after the fourth seed beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1 in well under an hour.

The semifinals were played simultaneously at the Real Club de Tenis after rain delayed the start for nearly five hours. Both Nadal and Raonic had won two matches on Friday.

Sania-Bethanie in last four

Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands progressed to the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis GP at Stuttgart after a 7-5, 6-4 win over Liezel Huber and Janette Husarova on Saturday.

The results: Barcelona Open: Semifinals: Nicolas Almagro bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1; Rafael Nadal bt Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-0. — Agencies