The 12-time Barcelona Open champion Rafael Nadal will compete at his favorite ATP 500 event for the 17th time in April. The fifth strongest ATP tournament on clay should gather a strong field of players, with the last year’s finalists Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas as the first confirmed stars.Nadal has won 66 out of 70 matches in Barcelona since making a debut in 2003 at 16, looking good to lift the 13th trophy after making a career-best start of the season. Rafa debuted in Barcelona in 2003 at 16 as a top-100 player, scoring one victory before losing to Alex Corretja in three sets.Between 2005-2013, Nadal claimed eight consecutive Barcelona titles to become the tournament’s most distinguished player before failing to reach the semis in 2014 and 2015. In t …