Obviously, this year as well, where he made the quarter-finals, so he's had an unbelievable progression in a short period of time. I think Cincinnati last year was a breakout tournament for Ben, where things started going so well for him. I felt like I had a little bit more time here to build the points on clay, which is normal,' said Ruud when asked about whether his Cincinnati defeat had given him extra motivation. Different surface, different continent, different tournament. It's tough when someone changes in the middle of the match, but I'm very happy that I was able to stay calm and play a very good tie-break,' he said. In the first set you feel like you get a lot of free points, and so on, but then suddenly he starts playing almost like a wall and playing really good from on defence. They stayed neck and neck in the decider, and Rafa saved a match point in game ten before delivering the crucial break a few minutes later.Īfter the match, the Spaniard admitted he had never played a similar final in Barcelona, praising the Greek and saying it was a significant victory that should help him in the upcoming tournaments.'It can be difficult. Stefanos refused to surrender, fending off match points in the second set before taking it in the tie break thanks to Nadal's double fault at 6-6. He survived that match point and rattled off the last three games to leave the opponent behind and bring the trophy home. Rafa saved 11 out of 13 break chances and produced four breaks that sent him over the top. The Spaniard prevailed in the decider's closing stages to lift his 61st clay-court ATP title. Thus, Nadal remained perfect in the Barcelona title matches, saving that match point in the decider's tenth game to prevail in the most extended best-of-three final since the start of the ATP Tour in 1990! Tsitsipas won the title in Monte Carlo and reached the Barcelona final without losing a set, playing on a high level and giving his best against Nadal in a memorable final.

Nadal overpowered Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 in three hours and 37 minutes after fending off a match point! Rafa's 12th Barcelona title came last year following a hard-fought victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas. Rafael Nadal will compete in Barcelona for the 17th time.

Pista rafa nadal