BEVERLY HILLS, April 25, (THEWILL) –Â On Sunday in Barcelona for the better part of four hours, world number three tennis player Rafa Nadal battled Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Barcelona Open for a winner in the final match of the event. In the end, the undisputed King of Clay confirmed his superiority to secure his 12th Barcelona title 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-5.
It is on record that Nadal was yet to lose in Barcelona after reaching the final and Tsitsipas looked every inch prepared to break that but Nadal switched on the extra burners to save a championship point at 4-5 in the third set, and ultimately save his continued strong showing in Barcelona.
Nadal has not been as totally dominant as he used to be on clay with losses of sets to both Ilya Ivashka and Kei Nishikori. But, when it counted most, Nadal once again played his best tennis in the biggest moments, breaking Tsitsipas in consecutive return games to capture the first set 6-4.
The Spaniard found himself down a break in the second set, and he stormed back to take a 5-4, 40-15 lead. Nadal’s Greek opponent saved two match points with aggressive tennis, and took the second set in a tiebreak.
It was neck and neck throughout the third set, until Nadal broke the Tsitsipas serve at 5-5. The full Barcelona crowd joined their Spaniard in celebration after Tsitsipas’ forehand sailed wide on match point.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
