Rafa Nadal became the first player in the open era to win two tournaments seven times when he fought off tenacious Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 7-6 7-5 to win a thrilling Barcelona Open final yesterday.

In a repeat of last year’s title match and 10 years to the day since he made his World Tour debut, Nadal came out on top in a claycourt slugfest between the nation’s two best players that wowed the capacity crowd in the Catalan capital.

The world number two, fresh from clinching a record eighth straight Monte Carlo Masters crown last week, claimed the giant Conde de Godo trophy for the seventh time in eight years with his 34th straight win at the event.

It was the 25-year-old French Open champion’s 48th career title and his 34th triumph on his beloved clay.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.