Rafael Nadal has won his 12th Barcelona title after beating the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in a epic three set encounter.
The world No.3 held his nerve to prevail 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 in a final that lasted three hours and 38 minutes which is the longest best-of-three match of 2021. Nadal hit 36 winners en route to the win while Tsitsipas hit 39 unforced errors.
“I never played a final like this in this tournament against a player like him, he won the title in Monte Carlo and went all the way to the final here without losing a set so it’s an important victory for me,” said Nadal.
“I think I have been increasing my level the whole week and this victory confirms it so that’s important. To have the trophy with me at home means a lot but at the same time for the future”
World number five Tsitsipas got off to a good start earning the first breakpoint of the match and breaking to take an early 3-1 lead. On the Spaniard next service game he was forced to save two more breakpoints amid intense pressure from the Greek.
At 4-3 Nadal started applying pressure on the world number five and managed to earn two breakpoints of his very own. Breaking to send the match back on serve at 4-4.
The next game Tsitsipas had two chances to break once again to regain the lead but the Mallorca native would once again come up big, saving both to hold serve. The world number three than went on the offensive getting a look at two set points on his opponent’s serve and managed to break once again to take the first set and win four straight games in the process.
The second set was more of the same with a see-saw battle between both players and it was the Greek once again with the first chance to break and he took full advantage breaking once again to take a 2-1 lead.
At 3-2 the Spaniard pulled off another comeback earning three chances to break to send the set back on serve and it took until his third look to get the break back. With the world number five serving to stay in the match the Spaniard earned two match points but the Greek would save both.
The next game Tsitsipas had three more chances to break but Nadal would save all and the second set would be decided by a tiebreaker. It stayed on serve until 5-4 when the Greek broke to set up two set points at 6-4 but the world number three would win the next two points. Tsitsipas would earn a set point off an untimely double fault from the Spaniard and he would take the second set to force a third and deciding set for the title.
The third set surprisingly stayed on serve until 5-4 when the world number five earned a match point but Nadal was able to save it and hold serve. The very next game the Spaniard had four chances to break and it took him till the fourth one to finally break and serve the match out.
After the match in his post match press conference Tsitsipas spoke out about what positives he can take from the last two weeks winning the title in Monte Carlo and making the final in Barcelona and pushing Nadal to three sets on clay.
“That’s great stuff but I was looking for a win and I felt there was opportunities that I had and for some reason, I didn’t take (it),” he said, “I felt I could have pulled off better tennis but I’m happy that I brought him (Nadal) so close. I was a match point up, that ball was literally two centimetres from winning that match point”
Nadal on the other hand was pleased with the fact he won another title in his home country and was asked how he is able to still compete year after year on such a hard tour.
“It means a lot to me, it’s difficult to manage something like this 10 or 15 years ago but here we are,” he said. “I mean I went through some tough moments in my career with injuries but I always hold the passion and the love for the sport to keep going with a great team and a great family that have been so important for holding the passion and the motivation to help me in those low moments. I am super happy to be where I am today and it’s an important achievement for me”
Nadal will move up to number two in the world on Monday with the win which is also his 12th title in Barcelona.
