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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Second-seeded David Ferrer was ousted from the Barcelona Open by a Russian opponent for the second straight year and defending champion Rafael Nadal labored to victory on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ferrer was unable to find his rhythm in losing 6-4, 6-2 to Teymuraz Gabashvili in his opening match while Nadal struggled past fellow Spanish player Albert Ramos 7-6 (2), 6-4.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nadal eventually overcame his 103rd-ranked opponent to reach the third round, rebounding from a surprise loss to Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;''After losing in the Monte Carlo I wanted to raise my game here,'' Nadal said. ''It just took a while.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eight-time winner Nadal was made to work against the stubborn Ramos, who broke back in the 11th game to force the first-set tiebreaker. Nadal eventually came out on the winning end of a long rally of baseline shots for a 4-2 lead as he went on to take the set.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nadal was steadier after that but still could not shake Ramos. He sealed it after a quick talk with the tournament doctor by breaking his fellow left-hander to win the match.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;''I had to accept that I was going to be made to work today, that I was not playing at my best level,'' Nadal said. ''But I got through it.''&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nadal will face Ivan Dodig next after the Croatian dismissed Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-1, 6-4.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ferrer, meanwhile, will not be facing Nadal in the final for a fifth time after the 55th-ranked Gabashvili dominated Ferrer on his favored clay to reach the last 16.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gabashvili kept Ferrer running to the corners, and the fifth-ranked Spaniard was surprisingly unable to keep up with shots he normally returns, looking fatigued at times.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ferrer netted to give his opponent a triple set-point opportunity to close out the first frame, which Gabashvili did by smashing a crosscourt forehand Ferrer couldn't handle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gabashvili maintained his play from the start of the second set to race to 3-0 when Ferrer skied his return high and into the crowd. Ferrer, who lost at this same stage last season to Dmitry Tursunov, slapped a crosscourt forehand long for Gabashvili to clinch it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;''Three weeks ago I lost to Ferrer in Miami but I dominated that first set. Today, I wanted to maintain my energy and keep it going, which I did for (90) minutes, but any more and it might have been tougher to win,'' Gabashvili said after winning for the first time on the third try against Ferrer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ferrer wasn't the only significant player to exit early as third-seeded Fabio Fognini retired to injury while losing 6-0, 4-0 to Santiago Giraldo of Colombia. Eighth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine was also ousted by Spanish player Albert Montanes 7-6 (5), 6-3.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Other second-round winners included sixth-seeded Nicolas Almagro and fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/tennis/2014/04/23/barcelona-open-rafael-nadal-david-ferrer-0>