Rafael Nadal, the 'King of Clay', loses to Fabio Fognini at the Barcelona Open

Spaniard's woes continue

Rafael Nadal at the Barcelona Open (GETTY IMAGES)

Rafael Nadal's clay-court woes mounted today at the Barcelona Open with another loss.

The eight-time champion lost to Fabio Fognini 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the third round, a year after his 41-match winning streak ended in the quarter-finals.

After losing the first set, Nadal appeared to have rebounded and broke his Italian opponent three times in the second set, but world No. 30 Fognini answered each time to force a tiebreaker.

After winning their first four career meetings, Nadal has lost twice to Fognini this year on his preferred surface.

Nadal, a nine-time French Open champion, was trying to rebound from last week's loss to Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters.