TOP seed Rafael Nadal rallied from a set back to beat Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 Wednesday in the second round at the Barcelona Open in Spain.

The 34-year-old Spaniard, who suffered a surprise quarterfinal exit at the hands of Andrey Rublev in the Monte Carlo Masters last week, dropped the first set against the world No.111 before pulling through Ivashka.

It was Nadal’s 62nd win in the tournament against just four defeats.

By the second set, he had righted his serve, winning 86.7 percent of points on his first serve in the second set and 83.3 percent in the third. He didn’t face a break point in either set.

“He played well. He played at a very high level, and I didn’t, especially at the beginning,” said Nadal who has lost only once on clay to a player outside the top 100 since 2004.

(SD-Agencies)