Barcelona - Spaniards Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will clash for the second straight year in a Barcelona Open final after cruising to solid semi-final victories on Saturday. Nadal, his devastating form improving even further as he heads toward the dream of five trophies in succession at the Real club, dispatched Russian third seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-2 in windy conditions to reach the Sunday showdown.

Ferrer, the scampering, retrieving number four, outlasted determined Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) as the South American made a recovery from 5-2 down in the second set to eventually force a tiebreaker.

Barcelona - Russian Nikolay Davydenko checked in for another successful work day on the clay Friday while Rafael Nadal took advantage of a quarter-final walkover as the pair prepared for a Saturday semi-final clash at the Barcelona Open.

Top-seeded world number one Nadal put in some practise time after learning the day before that seventh-seeded Argentine opponent David Nalbandian would not be fronting up for their match due to hip problems which intensified during the previous round.

Barcelona - Seventh seed David Nalbandian completed a hat-trick of quarter-final placings at the Barcelona Open on Thursday as he beat Spain's Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4.

The Argentine also reached the last eight at the Real club in 2004 and in 2007 but stalled in the third round a year ago.

The former Wimbledon finalist is more than likely to line up against king of clay Rafael Nadal if the world number 1 came through as expected later on Thursday in his third-round match with Belgian Christophe Rochus.

Barcelona - Clay-tough Spaniard Tommy Robredo ended the Barcelona Open dream of Gaston Gaudio as he hammered the former French Open champion out of the second round on Wednesday.

Sixth seed Robredo, who trailed 4-3 in a series with the last match played in 2006, piled on a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 win after being made to work in the opening set.

Gaudio, 30 yearf age and ranked 966th, was on a high after winning his first match since 2007 and now pointing at a wild card request for Roland Garros after claiming the Grand Slam there in 2004.

Barcelona - Argentine Gaston Gaudio fueled his optimism for a possible comeback in tennis as he defeated compatriot Diego Junqueira 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at the Barcelona Open, winning his first match in nearly two years.

It was the French Open first round of 2007 that the Roland Garros champion of just three years previous last tasted a victory.

The 30-year-old said that he has sought a wild card into Paris as he makes his intended comeback.

Barcelona - Spanish police Tuesday detained 22 suspected members of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, seizing weapons and neo-Nazi propaganda material, police sources said.

The detainees were held in Barcelona, Malaga, Valencia, Madrid and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on charges of belonging to an illegal organization, drugs and arms trafficking, extortion, coercion and threats.

Police searched more than 30 addresses, including homes and bars.