Rafael Nadal was crowned the Barcelona Open champion, for the eighth time in nine years as he beat fellow spaniard Nicolas Almagro in straight sets 6-4 6-3.
In heavy conditions and constant drizzle, Almagro started quickly, breaking Nadal early in the first set twice and racing out to a 0-3 lead. This prompted the Mallorcan to up his own game and he fought back, breaking Almagro in 3 of his next 4 service games to take command of the match. He served out the first set and broke early in the second.
Almagro had never beaten Nadal in 9 previous matches and the final followed the same pattern. Nadal closed out the second set to improve his record in the tournament to 40-1.
Nadal has made all six finals of the tournaments he has participated in since returning from a lengthy layoff, winning four of them. The next stop is Madrid.
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