Rafael Nadal continues to make winning on clay look all too easy.
Nadal on Sunday extended his dominance on the surface with a 6-2, 6-1 win over 19-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to win his 11th Barcelona Open title.
Nadal, who also won his 11th Monte Carlo Masters title last week, was never seriously challenged on his way to a 19th straight victory on clay.
Photo: AFP
The Spanish world No. 1 has won 46 straight sets on clay, extending his own record.
Nadal has not lost on clay since he was defeated by Dominic Thiem in Rome last year.
“It’s very difficult to describe how to win 11 titles at one tournament,” Nadal said. “To win 11 Monte Carlos and 11 Barcelonas is something I couldn’t imagine doing. I’m just enjoying every week and the fact I’m playing in a tournament that I enjoy so much means a lot to me.”
It was the 77th title of Nadal’s career, tying him with John McEnroe for fourth best in the Open era.
Only Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Ivan Lendl are ahead.
Nadal, who won his 400th match on clay in Saturday’s semi-final, needed the victory in Barcelona to secure his world No. 1 ranking.
“It’s hard for anybody to imagine all the feelings and emotions I have when I play here,” Nadal said. “Hopefully, I can keep coming back for many more years to come.”
After the win, Nadal dived into a pool at the venue along with some of the tournament’s ball boys and ball girls.
Nadal was out of action earlier this year because of a lingering hip injury sustained in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
He returned to help Spain defeat Germany in the Davis Cup quarter-finals and then went on to win in Monte Carlo.
“I’ve had two fantastic weeks, but we were coming off difficult months because of the injuries,” Nadal said.
World No. 63 Tsitsipas was trying to become the first Greek to win an ATP Tour title.
He was the first Greek to make it to an ATP final since Nicholas Kalogeropoulos in 1973.
“I knew the chances to win were small, but my confidence was rising in every match, and while I was expecting a little better today, congratulations to Rafa,” Tsitsipas said. “It was a first experience and tougher than I thought. I’ve watched him millions of times on TV, but it’s tougher to face him in reality.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but