Date:05/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/05/stories/2008050560912100.htm

Sport - Tennis

Nadal wins fourth Barcelona title

BARCELONA: Rafael Nadal held off a stirring fightback from David Ferrer to beat his fellow Spaniard 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 on Sunday, to become the first man to win four consecutive Barcelona Open titles.

The top seed romped through the first set but Ferrer hit back superbly and Nadal had to dig deep to clinch his 25th career title, making it back-to-back tournament wins after his triumph in the Monte Carlo Masters.

Second seed Ferrer, the champion in Valencia last month, had won three of their eight previous meetings but Nadal overpowered him in the first set, breaking three times to move ahead. Ferrer then changed his game plan, attacking the Nadal backhand and then ripping winners to the open court. The tactic worked perfectly as Ferrer broke in the first game of the second set and though Nadal hit back to level at 4-4, Ferrer broke again and served out to force a decider.

But the 21-year-old surged to a 5-0 lead. Ferrer saved one match point on his own serve in the sixth game but Nadal served it out.

Gonzalez wins Munich

Second seed Fernando Gonzalez won the Munich Open with a scrappy 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-3 victory over Italy’s Simone Bolelli. Bolelli recovered from losing the first set tiebreak to level the match by taking the second.

The unseeded Italian kept fighting but fell a crucial break behind at 2-3 in the deciding setand Gonzalez held firm to clinch the match in two hours 38 minutes.

The results (All finals): At Barcelona (Barcelona Open): Rafael Nadal bt David Ferrer 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.

At Munich (Munich Open): Fernando Gonzalez bt Simone Bolelli 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 63.

At Prague (Prague Open): Vera Zvonareva bt Victoria Azarenka 7-6(2), 6-2.

At Fes (Morocco Open): Gisela Dulko bt Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-6(2), 7-6(5). — Agencies