Rafael Nadal made more history at the Barcelona Open as he won his 11th title in the Spanish city with a 6-2 6-1 thrashing over 19 year old Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Spaniard was in sparkling form from the offset as he dictated play with his sizzling backhand. The wet and windy conditions didn’t stop Nadal’s momentum as he broke his 19 year old opponent in the third game for a 2-1 lead. Tsitsipas had beaten superior opposition to get to the final such as Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pablo Carreno Busta in an impressive run. However he couldn’t quite find his tennis in his first ATP final as errors continued to flow from Tsitsipas’ racket.
The world number one broke once again as the Spaniard took advantage of the 19 year old’s cautious approach to the match. The ten time champion eased through the first set in 41 minutes as the Spaniard looked set to march to yet another clay court title.
The second set provided a similar outcome as Tsitsipas failed to play the high percentage points, which is the perfect strategy when playing the world number one. The Spaniard broke twice and stormed into a convincing 4-0 lead in what was one of Nadal’s easiest finals. The top seed broke for a third time to complete a sensational victory and seal his 11th Barcelona title.
After the match, Nadal was nothing but classy in his presentation speech, “I congratulate you Stefanos. It was an amazing week for you, your going to have a great future in tennis. Thanks to everyone for making this tournament special. It was an amazing atmosphere.”
Despite Tsitsipas’ defeat, he was very positive in his speech also, “Congratulations to Rafa for a great week again. I respect all your achievements in tennis.”
The duo shared some fun with the champagne after having a mandatory photograph, in what was an amazing week for both players:
(🎥@TennisTV ) pic.twitter.com/JhUorUf7QF
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) April 29, 2018
Stefanos Tsitsipas showed pure class throughout the week and achieved a lot of fantastic things such as beating top 20 players, reaching his first ATP final and breaking inside the top 50 for the first time.
As for Nadal, it’s now 46 consecutive sets on a clay court as well as a record breaking 11th Barcelona title and to top the week off he will spend a 172nd week at the top of the ATP World Rankings. So the question remains can anyone stop Nadal on clay this season? Well, by the looks of things the Spaniard is on course to sweeping up all the titles and creating more history at Roland Garros in a months time.