Rafael Nadal maintained his ominous form by seizing back the Barcelona Open title from Kei Nishikori with a 6-4, 7-5 victory on Sunday, and with his triumph matched Guillermo Vilas’s record haul of 49 clay-court titles.
A week after reclaiming the Monte Carlo crown, the 29-year-old Spaniard returned to another of his favourite hunting grounds to end Nishikori’s two-year hold on the trophy and take his tally in the Catalan capital to nine.
Playing with the kind of authority that once made him almost unplayable on European clay, Nadal looked poised for a comfortable victory until Nishikori broke back in the second set to make Nadal dig deep.
He would not be denied, though, sealing victory after two hours when Nishikori slapped a forehand into the net.
Nadal, who will target a 10th Roland Garros title next month, had not won back-to-back titles since 2013.
Nadal will fancy his chances of edging ahead of the Argentine great Vilas’s record when he moves on to the Masters tournaments in Madrid and Rome before Roland Garros.
