The Sport Review: “Barcelona Open: Rafael Nadal makes winning start” plus 3 more

Barcelona Open: Rafael Nadal makes winning start
Pepe Reina calls on Liverpool to improve next season
Michel Platini admits ‘mistake’ over Champions League tickets
Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t expect summer overhaul at Chelsea

Barcelona Open: Rafael Nadal makes winning start

Posted: 20 Apr 2011 04:22 PM PDT

rafael nadal

Rafael Nadal began his quest for a sixth Barcelona Open title with a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 second-round win over fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

The world No1 cruised through in just over an hour and continues his supreme run on the dirt. Having won last week’s Monte Carlo Masters, Nadal is now unbeaten in 27 matches on clay since losing to Robin Soderling at Roland Garros in 2009.

The 24-year-old is once again threatening to break records this week, aiming to become the second-youngest player ever to reach 500 singles match victories on the ATP tour, just behind Bjorn Borg.

Nadal notched up his 497th singles career win today and a run to the Barcelona final would see him etch his name in the history books once again. Next up for the Spaniard is Columbian Santiago Giraldo in the third round.

The surprise of the day was world No5 Robin Soderling's exit in his first match on the clay this season, the Swede losing 6-2 6-4 to Ivan Dodig.

Elsewhere, sixth seed Jurgen Melzer booked his place in round three with a 6-1 6-3 win over local Marcel Granollers.

Japan's Kei Nishikori is hoping a solid run in Barcelona can propel him to become the highest-ranked Japanese player of all time. He is currently No48, two places behind Shuzo Matsuoka's career-high benchmark achieved in 1992, and a 6-1 6-4 win over Rui Machado means his ranking is almost certain to rise next week.

Nishikori will next play Spain's Feliciano López, who defeated 12th seed and countryman Guillermo García López 6-7 6-3 6-4.

Another Spaniard David Ferrer continued his fantastic form with a crushing 6-2 6-2 victory over Carlos Berlocq.

Meanwhile, 2001 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero beat German Mischa Zverev, who replaced the injured Andy Murray in the draw. The Spaniard prevailed 6-4 7-5 in what was his first tournament since last September's US Open after struggling with a knee injury.

Nikolay Davydenko managed to keep up his resurgence in form with a 6-2 7-6 win over Édouard Roger-Vasselin, while Richard Gasquet fought past Blaz Kavcic 6-3 4-6 6-2.

And as the sun set in Spain, Canadian youngster Milos Raonic was pushed all the way in a 6-3 4-6 7-6 victory over Simon Gruel.

Pepe Reina calls on Liverpool to improve next season

Posted: 20 Apr 2011 04:02 PM PDT

pepe reina

Goalkeeper Pepe Reina has called on Liverpool to show more consistency next season and mount a challenge for the Premier League title.

The Spain international, who has been linked with a summer move away from Anfield, dropped his biggest hint yet that he intends to stay at Liverpool by urging his team-mates to make a strong start to the new campaign.

“We started this season and the last one not the best," Reina said. “Next time, we need to make sure that doesn't happen.”

Liverpool’s interim manager Kenny Dalglish has helped guide the club out of the bottom half of the Premier League table and into a respectable sixth position.

Only Manchester United have amassed more points than Liverpool in the league since Dalglish took control of first team affairs at Anfield – and the Reds have recorded victories over both Chelsea and United in that time.

But while their return to form has been nothing short of miraculous, Reina believes Liverpool are guilty of complacency against the so-called smaller teams in the top flight.

“We cannot just perform against the top sides because a season is ten months long,” continued the Liverpool goalkeeper. “If we get the balance right, we'll be a lot, lot closer to where we want to be.

“We have improved since Kenny became manager, we have beaten the big teams, but it is important as players to repeat that in every game. We need to be consistent with the aggression, commitment – everything.”

Michel Platini admits ‘mistake’ over Champions League tickets

Posted: 20 Apr 2011 09:44 AM PDT

michel platini

Uefa president Michel Platini has apologised for the high price of tickets for this year’s Champions League final, adding that the governing body will consider introducing cheaper family categories in future.

General sale tickets for the final of Europe’s premier club competition at Wembley on 28 May are the most expensive in the tournament’s history, with the cheapest costing £176.

The cheapest option for one adult and one child costs £338, although tickets for fans of the clubs involved in the final next month are expected to be priced at around £80.

“It was a mistake, it was not good,” said Platini, who was in London for the handover of the Champions League trophy on Wednesday. “But it is not easy to decide the price of the tickets in the Champions League final.

“We have received 200,000 requests for 10,000 tickets and now on the black market these tickets are 10 times the price that we decided.

“Perhaps in the future we have to have another category for families that is less expensive. But if you put those on the black market how much will they cost?”

The 55-year-old former France midfielder added: “It was not a good communication and I apologise about that.”

The final at Wembley will see either Manchester United or Bundesliga side Schalke play one of La Liga giants Barcelona or Real Madrid.

“I’m very proud to receive the cup from a great club like Inter and to give it to a great football city like London,” said Platini at the trophy handover event on Wednesday.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson added: “I want to thank Uefa very much for choosing London as the venue. Football has done fantastic things for the people of this city and London does great things for football.

“That’s why we’re so proud to welcome Uefa for this great final and to be organising an eight-day festival of football in Hyde Park and other iconic locations. Thank you for bringing the cup for London – may the best team win.”

David Bernstein, the chairman of the Football Association, expressed his pride in seeing the capital host the event. “Despite the fact there are no longer any London clubs left in the competition, the final is very much for the whole of London,” he told an audience that included England manager Fabio Capello.

“As Madrid, Rome and Moscow in previous years will no doubt confirm, the Champions League final is a wonderful event, not just for the host stadium but also the host city.”

The Champions League trophy goes on tour in London from 21 April until 21 May, when it moves to the Uefa Champions Festival in Hyde Park. The tour begins at Duke of York Square on King’s Road on Thursday.

Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t expect summer overhaul at Chelsea

Posted: 20 Apr 2011 08:15 AM PDT

carlo ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti is not expecting a major overhaul of Chelsea's squad this summer despite the club having endured their worst campaign under the ownership of Roman Abramovich.

Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, José Boswinga and Nicolas Anelka have all been linked with possible moves away from Stamford Bridge this summer, while Frank Lampard and John Terry are approaching the end of their careers.

But Ancelotti, whose own future at Stamford Bridge has been cast into doubt of late, says the Blues are not desperately looking to bring in new faces ahead of next season.

“I don’t think there will be a lot of changes during the summer because we bought very important players in January, David Luiz and [Fernando] Torres," said Ancelotti. “I don’t think we need to have too many more changes.”

The former AC Milan boss believes the experience of the older members of Chelsea’s squad can prove vital in the club's hunt for trophies.

“After 30 years old, you can use your experience to maintain yourself at the top level. I think that football is not just physical, it’s not just technical,” he continued. “It’s experience, ability to manage yourself, to be professional.”

“When you increase your age, your professionalism improves every time – if you are intelligent.

“I think that this club has very intelligent players. Every player has particular skills and abilities, which are difficult to replace.”

Ancelotti admits Chelsea's squad was not strong enough to defend their Premier League title this season, and says injury problems in defence was one of the main reasons behind their torrid campaign.

“I don’t think the squad was good enough this year,” he said. “At the start of the season, we couldn’t have envisaged having very important players out at the same time.

“We struggled to manage this – without Lampard, Drogba, [Michael] Essien, Terry, Alex. It was very difficult.

“At a certain point in the season, we needed to put [Paulo] Ferreira in at centre-back because we’d lost all our other centre-backs.”