Rafael Nadal was looking to add to his impressive resume. Last week the ’King of Clay’ was able to claim his eighth Monte Carlo Open. This week, the Spaniard was on the verge of winning his seventh Barcelona title. A victory there would make him the first player in the Open Era to win two ATP World Tour events at least 7 times.
Nadal would need to oust his countrymen David Ferrer to get into the record books. And the two Spaniards would go toe-to-toe in the first set, but it would be Rafa that would prevail, taking the first frame in a tiebreaker.
In the second set, things continued to be close and the world number six Ferrer would have the upper-hand as he would take a 5-4 lead in the frame. But then Nadal found his game and won the next three games to close out the set 7-5, sealing victory with a backhand winner before leaping into the air to celebrate.
It was the 25-year-old’s 48th career title and 34th triumph on his beloved clay. No surprise that Nadal won the final as only No.3 Roger Federer and World No.1 Novak Djokovic have ever beaten him in a clay court final. Rafa looks like he is getting in form with the French Open only a month away.