Rome improvements: Rafael Nadal kept his focus to beat David Ferrer Rafael Nadal maintained his focus through two rain delays to beat fellow Spanish player David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 on Sunday and claim his fifth Rome Masters title in six years.
Having won the Monte Carlo Masters two weeks ago to end an 11-month title drought, Nadal improved to 10-0 on clay this year and provided another signal that he is back to dominating on his preferred surface after a series of injuries.
Nadal has now won his last seven meetings with Ferrer, who was playing the first Masters Series final of his career.
Before a bundled-up crowd of 10,500 inside the tournament's new stadium, both players had to deal with a wet and slippery court, as well as swirling winds.
Nadal applied pressure from the start. And at 2-2 in the first set, Ferrer had to save five break points with some uncharacteristic attacking play, going for outright winners to the corners.
Midway through the first set, Nadal won a spectacular point that included a behind-the-back shot from Ferrer.
The match was suspended for an hour due to rain with Ferrer serving at 4-4 in the first set. Ferrer maintained his concentration when the players came back out and held serve to take a 5-4 lead. But Nadal broke at his next opportunity when Ferrer's forehand clipped the top of the net to end a long rally.
Nadal didn't face a break point until he served for the first set, and he saved it with a well-positioned serve out wide that Ferrer returned long. On the next point, Nadal moved Ferrer from corner to corner and then rushed forward to put away an easy volley.
On his first set point, Nadal hit another solid first serve and Ferrer's reply sailed long. Nadal broke again in the third game of the second set, and the match was then suspended again for 1 hour, 45 minutes - causing many fans to head home.
When the players came out again, Ferrer hit a costly double fault and followed that with a loose forehand wide to hand Nadal another break and let him serve out the match.
Nadal concluded with 24 winners to Ferrer's 15 and 13 fewer unforced errors. Ferrer committed five double faults to Nadal's none and won only 39 percent of the points on his second serve to Nadal's 67 percent.
Meanwhile, Britain's Naomi Cavaday, ranked 194th in the world, won the first ITF claycourt title of her career by beating second seed Andrea Hlavackova 6-2 6-4 in the final of the £18,000 event in Brescia, Italy.
Rome improvements: Rafael Nadal kept his focus to beat David FerrerNadal has now won his last seven meetings with Ferrer, who was playing the first Masters Series final of his career.
Before a bundled-up crowd of 10,500 inside the tournament's new stadium, both players had to deal with a wet and slippery court, as well as swirling winds.
Nadal applied pressure from the start. And at 2-2 in the first set, Ferrer had to save five break points with some uncharacteristic attacking play, going for outright winners to the corners.
Midway through the first set, Nadal won a spectacular point that included a behind-the-back shot from Ferrer.
The match was suspended for an hour due to rain with Ferrer serving at 4-4 in the first set. Ferrer maintained his concentration when the players came back out and held serve to take a 5-4 lead. But Nadal broke at his next opportunity when Ferrer's forehand clipped the top of the net to end a long rally.
Nadal didn't face a break point until he served for the first set, and he saved it with a well-positioned serve out wide that Ferrer returned long. On the next point, Nadal moved Ferrer from corner to corner and then rushed forward to put away an easy volley.
On his first set point, Nadal hit another solid first serve and Ferrer's reply sailed long. Nadal broke again in the third game of the second set, and the match was then suspended again for 1 hour, 45 minutes - causing many fans to head home.
When the players came out again, Ferrer hit a costly double fault and followed that with a loose forehand wide to hand Nadal another break and let him serve out the match.
Nadal concluded with 24 winners to Ferrer's 15 and 13 fewer unforced errors. Ferrer committed five double faults to Nadal's none and won only 39 percent of the points on his second serve to Nadal's 67 percent.
Meanwhile, Britain's Naomi Cavaday, ranked 194th in the world, won the first ITF claycourt title of her career by beating second seed Andrea Hlavackova 6-2 6-4 in the final of the £18,000 event in Brescia, Italy.
source: dailymail
