Nadal wins fifth Barcelona clay crown

Eurosport - Mon, 27 Apr 12:06:00 2009

World number one Rafael Nadal powered to his fifth consecutive Barcelona Open title with a 6-2 7-5 win over Spanish compatriot David Ferrer.

TENNIS 2009 ATP Barcelona Rafael Nadal from Spain bites his trophy after defeating Spain's David Ferrer in the final - 0

Top seed Nadal, who also beat Ferrer in last year's final, exchanged early breaks with the fourth seed on the clay in the Catalan capital before racing into a 5-2 lead and taking the set with an ace.

Ferrer put up more of a fight in the second set as the pair broke each other twice but lost his serve again in the 11th game and Nadal sealed victory on his second match point when Ferrer sent a forehand long.

"This is much more than a dream for me," Nadal said after lifting the huge Conde de Godo trophy.

"I never could have imagined I'd be here winning for a fifth time," he added. "Congratulations to David. Even though it was not possible for him today he played a great tournament."

The 22-year-old Mallorcan has only lost four times on clay since 2005, most recently to fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero at last year's Rome Masters when he was not fully fit.

He became the first man to win five Monte Carlo Masters in a row last weekend and is favourite for a fifth straight French Open crown when the grand slam begins in Paris next month.

He also holds the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles and now heads to the Rome Masters where he will bid for a fourth triumph.

Reuters

Comment 30 - 49 of 69

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  1. Olga, I think you are prettier than the slag­ "Elena" from F1 pages.

    From y.soserius, on Mon 27 Apr 6:48AM

  2. I thought Ferrer played pretty good last night. I was­ worried about Rafa's average performance in the­ last few matches but last night he showed that he is­ still able to come up with the goods when needed.
    And­ now, Rafa, for the 4th Rome title, the 1st in Madrid­ and the 5th in RG and then you may rest for a week. We­ are counting on it. Vamos Rafa!

    From vamos.rafa, on Mon 27 Apr 6:06AM

  3. Hi Olga..I don't see anyone saying negatives abt­ Russia's Fed Cup loss.
    Sorry yr girls lost the­ plot. But we did see it coming tho. They should have­ sent Elena D or Safina. Kuznetsova wasn't playing­ that great for the past few months.
    Well better luck­ next time.

    From vamos.rafa, on Mon 27 Apr 5:58AM

  4. i'm a big djokovic supporter but i'd really­ love to witness someone achieving the grand slam (win­ all 4 grand slams in a year) & i believe the only­ person who can achieve this is nadal so good luck nadal

    From kutambura, on Mon 27 Apr 4:26AM

  5. Utterly Unstoppable....

    From patchthetwat, on Mon 27 Apr 12:55AM

  6. wayne, is it some kind of a self projection?.....youve­ got to see cameron, the person is looking for some kind­ of personality

    From Ray V, on Mon 27 Apr 12:43AM

  7. I hope Rafa has a good dentist, coz he keeps chewing on­ metal trophies.

    From webbski, on Mon 27 Apr 12:33AM

  8. Long clay court season ahead for you Wayne. Never mind!­ There's always the holiday in Belgrade to look­ forward to. Every cloud...

    From rhymes450, on Sun 26 Apr 11:09PM

  9. lol Prof Webbski...
    I think by sheer force of numbers­ comment 42 could well get the largest amount of­ "thumbs down" in history!!

    From Nicholas, on Sun 26 Apr 11:08PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    valid comment

    From webbski, on Sun 26 Apr 10:52PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Nadal seems to attract people, who have little or­ nothing in life, and need a lot of reflected glory to­ feel succesful !
    As for the Serbs well really the less­ said the better!

    From wayne.daley2, on Sun 26 Apr 10:46PM

  12. Rafa you are fantastic, an enjoyable match to watch,­ you are just simply the best, love your tennis and you­ looking forward to the rest of this clay season

    From karenalder, on Sun 26 Apr 10:35PM

  13. Invalid comment syndrome depriving the community of my­ wisdom once again. The frustration out there is almost­ palpable. Oh well!

    From rhymes450, on Sun 26 Apr 10:32PM

  14. cameron you dont have to dig the archives to find some­ personality....just watch radek stepanek...he is the­ real mr. personality...unless if you have different­ understanding of the word.

    From Ray V, on Sun 26 Apr 10:07PM

  15. Great victory for Rafa, great game from Ferrer as well,­ but on clay rafa is almost impossible...
    This­ tournament Rafa didnt have to push up almost anything­ to make the oposition fall down! Others give the best­ they can, such as Murray, Novak and Ferrer did in the­ last games, but Nadal without putting the highest gear­ he has he his winning.
    this is making the picture for­ Rafa to get all the clay court titles this year....­ specially Roland Garros, because if nobody can handle­ him in 3 set matches, how can someone do it in 5­ setters? Only if Federer or Novak can take their game­ to another dimension they will be able to take RG from­ the great king, and grand campeon that Rafa is on his­ favourite surface!!!

    Lets see who is able to stand­ against him in the next week as he will be eager to­ recouver his rome crown!!!

    From tiagomarcelino, on Sun 26 Apr 10:07PM

  16. ive got a change of heart.I think i like Olga. I just­ gave her a thumbs up.

    From Ray V, on Sun 26 Apr 10:03PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Olga is hot. Full stop. Yeah, great win for Nadal. He­ makes Joke-ovic and Moron-ey look average

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 26 Apr 9:49PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Rafael Nadal is number one. The best. Genius. Perfect.­ Full stop.

    From Olga, on Sun 26 Apr 9:40PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Tim, Jay, Sanchez, Igor, plz tell me why the hell i am­ so much thumbed down telling almost nothing? Just a­ question i can't find an answer to...All the rest -­ i don't care ur opinion, if u are not polite. If u­ are - u are welcome. Thank u all. cheers

    From Olga, on Sun 26 Apr 9:37PM

  20. Well done Rafa.To me he was a lot better and impressive­ last year but the thing is, he carries on winning­ though.I look4ward to the French Open..

    From hadjeseles, on Sun 26 Apr 9:35PM
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