King of Clay Rafael Nadal won the Barcelona Open for a record 10th time on Sunday, beating the Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1. This is the second time in two weeks that Nadal has won a title for the 10th time – he became the first man in the Open Era to win a tournament 10 times last week when he won the Monte Carlo Masters defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3 last Sunday. “It means a lot to me to win 10 titles here in Barcelona as well,” Nadal said. “To win in Barcelona and Monte Carlo gives me a dream start to the clay season.”
Nadal broke the ninth-ranked Austrian late in the first set and early in the second, then cruised to close out the match for his 51st career title on clay, and 71st overall. He saved the only break point he conceded to Thiem at the “Rafa Nadal” center court. He was only broken twice in 47 service games throughout the week.
The Barcelona Open was Nadal’s second title of the season, after the Monte Carlo Masters, and will boost his morale immensely as he tries to win a 10th French Open at Roland Garros next month. His last Grand Slam title was also the French Open three years ago. He has shown flashes of his old brilliance this year, getting as far as the finals of the Australian Open at the start of the tour where he lost to old nemesis Roger Federer. The 30-year-old Nadal has now won 10 consecutive matches and is 21-1 in his past 22 sets.
