Spain's Rafael Nadal overpowered Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Barcelona Open for a record-equaling third time and extend his clay-court winning streak to 72 matches.
The two-time Roland Garros champion kept the Real club trophy safely in home hands for the fifth year in a row, and became only the second man after Swede Mats Wilander (1982-1984) to win three straight editions of the tournament.
The 20-year-old, who remained a perfect 15-0 in clay court finals after collecting his 20th career title, has now defended his first two clay-court trophies from last season.
PHOTO: AP
Canas, the 12th-seeded battle-hardened veteran back on form after serving out a doping ban, rallied briefly in the last two games of the one-hour, 40-minute march for Nadal, saving three match points before going down.
It was a third defeat against Nadal for the 29-year-old Argentinian who came to the court with a 21-4 record this season, a title in Brazil and a final a month ago in Miami.
But his pedigree counted for little as Nadal continued his streak with one break per set enough to see him through.
"It's great to win again at home. This streak is not a normal thing, and I know it will end some day. But I'm only thinking about playing each match well," Nadal said.
"I'm very happy after winning here three times at my club," he said. "Willy [Canas] is one of the best players in the world on clay, and he's having a fantastic start to the season."
Canas joked: "Congratulations to Rafa for this season ... and the previous one, and the one before that."
Victory marked his third trophy this year after Masters sweeps at Indian Wells and Monte Carlo, where he beat Roger Federer for the fifth consecutive time on clay.
Canas got the Swiss player's number in March, defeating him at Indian Wells and Miami.
Nadal moved ahead of Djokovic on 27 match wins, the most this season on the ATP.
The Spaniard last lost on clay in April, 2005, against Russian Igor Andreev in the Valencia quarter-finals. Nadal stands 16-1 in Barcelona, his only loss coming to countryman Alex Corretja in the 2003 second round.
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