Nadal wins his 10th Monte-Carlo Masters
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (France), April 23 (IANS) Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal won the Monte-Carlo Masters by defeating his countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the final here on Sunday to become the first player in the Open Era to have won 10 titles of the same tournament.
Nadal, regarded as one of the greatest clay-court players of all time, defeated 15th seed Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-3 in 76 minutes and became the first player in the Open Era to win 10 Monte-Carlo Masters tournaments and 50 career clay-court titles, reports Efe.
"Ten titles here is something that I never dreamed of before. See you next year," said Nadal on the awarding ceremony, where a video showed every title he claimed at Monte-Carlo dating back to 2005, reports Xinhua news agency.
Ramos-Vinolas was riding on a fantastic week as he eliminated world No.1 Andy Murray and fifth-seeded Marin Cilic en route to the final, while finding it hard to stop Nadal's quest for a historic 10th glory at Monte-Carlo.
After both players split the first two games, Nadal sped up to break twice and take the following five games for 6-1 win, capped by an ace.
At 2-2 in the second set, Nadal broke for the third time, before building a 5-3 lead into Ramos-Vinolas' service. After the underdog saved Nadal's two champion points, his double-fault converted the No. 4 seed's third champion point into a title in a 76-minute match.
This is also Nadal's 70th ATP World Tour title and his 29th ATP Masters 1000 crown, just one title shy of Serbian record-holder Novak Djokovic, who has 30 titles to his name.
Sunday's match was the first all left-handed Monte-Carlo Masters final since 2010, when Nadal won the title against compatriot Fernando Verdasco.
It also marks Nadal's perfect 14-0 record of never losing against a fellow Spaniard in an ATP World Tour final.
--IANS
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