Rafael Nadal continued his dominance at the Barcelona Open on Sunday by winning the 12th Barcelona Open title of his career. However, the second-ranked player in the world, was taken the distance by Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, in a three-set victory, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5, in the final.
Nadal’s win over Tsitsipas lasted three hours and 38 minutes. According to Sam Goodwin of Yahoo! Sports, it was the longest three-set match of 2021.
The final was evenly matched. Nadal won 123 points, while Tsitsipas won 119 points. Nadal was able to break Tsitsipas at key times in the first and third sets.
Another key statistic was the percentage of second serve points won. Nadal won 60% of his second serve points, while Tsitsipas only won 44% of his second serve points.
Nadal previously won the Barcelona Open in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018. The only other three players to win the Barcelona Open since 2005 are Fernando Verdasco of Spain (2010), Kei Nishikori of Japan (2014 and 2015), and Dominic Thiem of Austria (2019).
When Nadal won his first two Barcelona Opens in 2005 and 2006, the finals were best-of-five. Nadal beat Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-1, 7-6, 6-3 in the 2005 final, and then Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 in the 2006 final.
Tsitsipas became only the second player ever to win a set against Nadal in the Barcelona Open Final. In 2008, David Ferrer of Spain won the second set 6-4, but lost the first and third sets convincingly, 6-1.
At the 2021 Barcelona Open, Nadal beat Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round, Nishikori in the third round by a score of 6-0, 2-6, 6-2, Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.
There is only one tournament on the ATP Tour that Nadal has won more than 12 times. That is the French Open, which he has won a record 13 times.
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