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BARCELONA, Spain -- Top-ranked Rafael Nadals clay-court struggles worsened Friday as his 41-match winning streak at the Barcelona Open ended with a three-set loss to Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals. Nadal was looking for his ninth title in Barcelona but lost 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, a week after going out in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters to David Ferrer. Nadal, widely considered the greatest clay-court player of all time, hadnt lost in Barcelona since his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, although he missed the tournament in 2010. He had not dropped a set here since the 2008 final. The 20th-ranked Almagro converted his second match point, smashing a forehand down the line for his first career victory over his fellow Spaniard on the 11th try. "I had a lot of opportunities in the second set," Nadal said. "I didnt take advantage of break points, so credit goes to him." After failing to convert any of his five break points in the second set, Nadal missed a return in the tiebreaker to give Almagro a 6-5 lead. Almagro followed up with a crosscourt forehand winner to level the match and end Nadals streak of 44 straight sets at the tournament. Both players were steady on serve until an exchange of breaks made it 4-4 in the third, and Nadal then sent a shot long to be broken again and give Almagro a chance to serve for the match. Nadal set up two straight chances to break back, but hit a forehand long and then sent a smash into the net with Almagro out of position. Nadal then saved the first match point when Almagros backhand flew wide. But Almagro used a serve-and-volley to save a third break point of the game before Nadals long return set up the second match point. Nadal hadnt been eliminated this early in back-to-back clay-court tournaments since 2004, when as an 18-year-old he also failed to get past the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Bastad. "This is an important win for my career," said Almagro, who celebrated wildly. Almagro will face Santiago Giraldo in Saturdays semifinals after Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3. Earlier, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia overpowered opponents to set up a semifinal meeting. The fourth-seeded Nishikori continued his good run since returning from a groin injury with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic of Croatia, while the ninth-seeded Gulbis dismissed Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Gulbis saved all five break points against Gabashvili, who had knocked out the fifth-ranked Ferrer. Zapatillas Puma Baratas . City has reached new heights under manager Manuel Pellegrini as they transition from big spending/immediate impact to perennial contender. Yaya Toures seeming discontent Tuesday may complicate that, as does the little issue of Financial Fair Play. Zapatillas Puma Baratas España . Andrew Luck couldnt believe his ears. Colts fans couldnt believe the scoreboard, and the Kansas City Chiefs couldnt believe their incredibly bad luck. http://www.pumabaratas.es/ .C. -- The RBC Cups semifinal participants were decided by a pair of overtime games. Puma Basket Baratas . -- League scoring leader Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists to lead the Val-dOr Foreurs over the Blainville-Boisbriand Phoenix 6-3 on Wednesay in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Wednesday. Zapatillas Puma Baratas Online . 1 goaltender tonight when they conclude a four-game road trip versus the Winnipeg Jets.HOUSTON -- All of the Montreal Impacts hard work on defence was undone by a single strange deflection. A collision sent the ball spiralling over to Houstons Giles Barnes just inside the area. Barnes sent a sliding pass back to Will Bruin, whose shot deflected off Impact defender Eric Millers foot and bounded over goalkeeper Troy Perkins. That goal in the 40th minute was all the Dynamo needed to beat Montreal 1-0 on Saturday, and eclipsed an otherwise outstanding defensive effort by Miller in just his second MLS star. "It was a block that just went over," Impact coach Frank Klopas said. "Nothing that you can do about that. We had numbers back and got the block, but it is what it is." The Dynamo (2-0-0) scored four goals against the New England Revolution in last weeks season opener. That prolific offence was nowhere to be seen on Saturday as the Impact tightened up on defence. Miller and Hassoun Camara led a back line that pressed the Dynamo up high and kept scoring chances to a minimum. "We knew they had a very strong attack," Camara said. "We wanted to press high and stay tight with our opponent. We made it tough for them by not giving them space. It was a good game, but in the end we are not happy because we lost on the unlucky goal..dddddddddddd." Montreals attempts to move the ball into the middle found stiff resistance from the Dynamo defence in the first half. Brad Davis and Kofi Sarkodi were particularly formidable as they defended on the crosses. The Impact (0-2-0) turned up the attack as the second half opened. Patrice Bernier and Andrew Wenger were able to make more runs into the middle and numerous chances that failed to find the back of the net. "We needed to push the game," Klopas said. "There was a sense of urgency and all the guys pushed to be quicker on the ball and switch the point of attack. We need to create enough chances and then finish them. I think they will come." Bernier and Wenger worked well together in creating chances while also getting into position for passes from Hernan Bernadello and Felipe Martins. Wenger and Bernier both had late shots that forced Dynamo keeper Tally Hall to make diving saves. A shot by Wenger in the 63rd got by Hall, but was cleared off the goal-line by Sarkodie. "We created opportunities, but they dropped a lot of guys deep," Wenger said. "It was tricky for us. We played well overall and should have come away with a point, at least. I would have preferred to win ugly, but thats soccer." ' ' '