Rafael Nadal confirmed his status as king of clay on Sunday when the Spanish powerhouse won his seventh Barcelona Open title with a high-quality 7-6 (7/1), 7-5 defeat of David Ferrer.
World No. 2 Nadal went from one history-making weekend to another after claiming an unprecedented eighth straight title a week ago in Monte Carlo, where he beat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Seven days later, he took nearly three hours to add to his record in Barcelona as he held off compatriot Ferrer.
Nadal and his friend were playing their fourth final at the Real Club de Tenis, with Nadal winning all of them dating back to 2008. He now stands as the only man to win two different events at least seven times each.
Photo: EPA
“This was my hardest match since the start of the clay season,” the winner said. “David always takes you to the limit. I was lucky when I saved break points. The odds were on my side. In the second set, David played very close, but I had the luck at the end. I’m so happy and I feel sorry for him. I’m starting to feel my game well on the clay.”
Nadal’s victory was his 34th in a row at Barcelona and it improved his finals record on clay to 34-4. His only clay finals losses have come against Djokovic and Roger Federer, each of them beating him twice.
The Barcelona triumph in front of 8,000 fans came exactly 10 years to the day that a 15-year-old Nadal made his debut on the ATP Tour in his native Mallorca.
Photo: EPA
Sunday’s final was the 10th between Spaniards at the tournament in the Open era, the sixth featuring Nadal and the fourth in five years between Nadal and Ferrer.
Spaniards have won the home title for the past 10 years since 2003.
“Rafa is Rafa and he is very good,” Ferrer said in defeat. “I’ve lost four times to him in this final, but I’ve always lost to one of the greats. He is a very good player and even better as a person.”
The marathon final looked never-ending after a first set lasting 93 minutes, with Nadal saving five set points in the 12th game, before the tiebreaker which he dominated.
Ferrer, 30, refused to roll over, with the third seed coming from 1-3 down as he broke Nadal in the fifth game and then did it again for 5-4 as Nadal produced a double fault.
However, Nadal was not done, with the top seed breaking back for 5-5, producing a love game for 6-5 and breaking again to end the dramatic contest a game later on the first of three match points.
Nadal now stands 14-4 over Ferrer after winning the 48th trophy of his career.
NASTASE TIRIAC TROPHY
AP, BUCHAREST
Top seed Gilles Simon beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-4, 6-3 to win the Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Sunday.
The Frenchman managed to clinch a hat-trick of titles in Bucharest after winning the tournament in 2007 and 2008.
Fognini, playing in his first ATP World Tour final, made a determined start and broke early for a 2-0 lead, before Simon recovered to 2-2.
Simon broke again to lead 3-2, but immediately lost his own serve in a game where both players made several forays to the net.
At 3-3, Simon broke for the third time and held on to take the set, despite an apparent eye injury.
The second set was dominated by several long rallies, but Simon seemed more in control and at 2-2 he broke to take the lead. Leading 5-3, Simon trailed 40-0 on Fognini’s serve, before rallying to win the match.
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