Spain’ s Rafael Nadal won on Sunday the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, also known as Conde Godo tournament, for the ninth time by defeating Japan’ s Kei Nishikori.
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The Spaniard then bettered second-seeded Nishikori through several superb rallies in a back-and-forth second set to win key points and claim his 69th career title in his 101st final.
“This is truly special, I don’t know if it is repeatable”, Nadal said about his records. So I feel happy that I handled all these important moments well mentally. Asked whether he has returned to his best level after winning those two titles, Nadal said he never left the big stage, and noted that he tries his best at every tournament but there are good and bad times. He defeated Kei Nishikori to clinch Barcelona Open for the ninth time. The Spaniard also won nine Roland Garros and nine Montecarlo Rolex Masters, which he recently won a week ago.
Nadal, who will target a 10th French Open title next month, had not won back-to-back titles since 2013. “I am very satisfied for Barcelona to join this group of nine”. But that only served to rile Nadal and he came charging back to lead 4-1 – his Japanese rival wayward with his groundstrokes at vital moments.
Nadal was broken in the opening game of the second set but recovered brilliantly to reel off four straight games. She had seen off top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, fourth-seeded Simona Halep and sixth-seeded Roberta Vinci and didnt drop a set in reaching the final.
Yet, a topsy-turvy final had another twist as an inspired Nishikori’s range of depth and well-timed drop shots saw him break back to level at 4-4.
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Nadal missed out on his first match point at 5-4, but didn’t have to wait long as Nishikori offered up two more in his next service game and sealed his own fate when a forehand found the net.
