Monte Carlo: Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal won the Monte-Carlo Masters by defeating his countryman Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the final to lift the 10th title of his favourite tournament here on Sunday.
Nadal, regarded as one of the greatest clay-court players of all time, defeated 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.
Since the beginning of the match, Ramos-Vinolas, ranked World No.24, was subjected to tremendous pressure and managed to save two championship points, but eventually hit a double fault on Nadal’s third chance to claim victory.
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.
