The world No.1 Rafael Nadal won for the eleventh time at the Barcelona Open, one week after having achieved the same feat in Monte Carlo, he outclassing the young Stefanos Tsitsipas in two sets 6-2, 6-1 on Sunday.
With this 77th title, the Spaniard joined in the history of tennis American John McEnroe. He is no longer ahead of three players in the number of trophies: Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, and Ivan Lendl.
On Catalan ground as on the Monaco Rock, Nadal has left no race to his ten successive opponents. It would almost be forgotten that two weeks ago, he made his return to the circuit after nearly three months of failure, the fault of a right hip injury that had forced him to retire from Australian Open quarter-finals at the end of January.
“I’m very happy for the victory against a very difficult opponent. Tsitsipas has an amazing future. It was a great final for me and the eleventh title here means a lot. I enjoyed the whole week and had great support from the crowd.” Nadal said.
“It’s very difficult to describe how to win 11 titles at one tournament. To win 11 Monte Carlo 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.” Nadal added.
Nadal has now won the last 46 rounds for 19 games played. He has not lost a single since his defeat in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 Rome in May 2017, against Dominic Thiem.
Rafael Nadal holds his Barcelona Open trophy. (Source:www.mainichi.jp)
Tsitsipas on the other hand, he admitted that the march was far too high on Sunday. But the 19-year-old Greek did not really exist against the king of ocher. Still too soft, too friable, perhaps also blunted by his three wins of the week against top 20 players.
“I have seen millions of his matches on clay. Ten years ago, I was already preparing for this game,” Tsitsipas joked Saturday after qualifying for the very first final on the main circuit of his young career.
The Greek tennis player will however be rewarded for his excellent Catalan course by entering the top 50 on Monday, he will settle precisely in 44th position.
