World number one Rafael Nadal hammered Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4 yesterday to win the Barcelona Open for the sixth time in seven editions.

The runaway victory in one hour, 49 minutes puts Nadal into sole third place on the all-time claycourt trophy list with 31 career titles on the surface.

Only Guillermo Vilas, with 45, and Thomas Muster, who won 40, are above him.

Nadal’s comprehensive victory over the opponent he beat a week before for a record seventh Monte Carlo trophy was his 13th in 17 matches played against Ferrer, his training partner.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Nadal, who has only lost two claycourt finals, both to Roger Federer.

“I’m very happy to come back and win here after not playing last year (knee injury). It was a difficult decision, it’s always a special dream to play in this tournament.”

Spain continued to dominate the Barcelona event, with at least one Spaniard playing the final for the ninth straight year. The last non-Spaniard to win was Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio in 2002.

Nadal, the reigning French Open champion, has now won 34 consecutive claycourt matches dating back to a fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling at Roland Garros in 2009.

The top seed spared a thought for Ferrer, the world number six.

“David deserves to win a major title, he’s doing very well week after week,” said Nadal, who has now beaten his compatriot in three Barcelona finals.

As he did in his semi-final win over Croatian Ivan Dodig, which was the 500th victory of his career, Nadal lost early breaks in each set but always managed to fight back.

He claimed the first set in 39 minutes but had to struggle much harder in the second despite starting with a break of Ferrer, who came to the court with a troublesome calf injury strapped before ending the match flexing the problem area.