Nadal 'ready for long battles'

BARCELONA • Rafael Nadal believes his gruelling 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Barcelona Open final on Sunday could prepare him for long battles ahead in the European clay-court season.

The 34-year-old, who claimed a record-extending 12th Barcelona title, suffered a back injury in Melbourne earlier this year before he was beaten by Tsitsipas in the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Following a spell on the sidelines, the record 20-time Grand Slam champion returned to action at Monte Carlo this month, before going out in the last eight.

But the Spaniard, who will be looking for a 14th French Open crown when the clay-court Grand Slam begins on May 30, showed he was returning to his battling best on Sunday, saving a match point before going on to win his first title of the year.

At 3hr 38min, it was the longest best-of-three-set ATP Tour final since statistics started being tracked in 1991.

But after getting past his Greek opponent, who is the joint most in-form player on the men's circuit with 26 wins this season, Nadal feels the stern test was just what the doctor ordered.

"I haven't been able to play a lot of competitive matches for the past couple of months," he said after handing Tsitsipas his first defeat on clay this term. "It's true that matches like today make me feel better physically and more ready for long battles.

"I've been able to play better and better... in every single match, and today was a bit better than yesterday. I have room to keep improving. I wasn't perfect.

"I really believe I can play better than what I'm doing on clay and I hope that the victory is going to help me to raise a little bit my level that I need to fight for the next couple of events that I'm going to play."

The 12 Barcelona titles earned by Nadal, who yesterday moved up a spot to world No. 2 following his win here, are second only to his 13 Roland Garros trophies, and runner-up Tsitsipas joked he was envious of that record.

The world No. 5, who has lost all seven ATP 500 finals, said: "Rafa, bravo... I'm really jealous. But you've earned it. You're one of the biggest competitors in our sport, I'm sure you know that."

The duo will next be in action at the Madrid Open, where Nadal is a five-time title holder. Last year's edition was axed due to the coronavirus pandemic, with top-ranked Novak Djokovic winning in 2019.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS