BARCELONA, Spain, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish tennis player, Rafal Nadal this Sunday beat fellow countryman Nico Almagro 6-4, 6-3 to win his eighth title in the tennis tournament Conde de Godo held this week in Barcelona.
The poor weather over the past few days in Barcelona had disrupted the tournament over the week, with several matches delayed due to wind and although the final was able to start at the scheduled time of 16:00 (14:00 GMT), it did so under threatening clouds and gusty wind making conditions difficult for both players.
Almagro, ranked 12 in the world and another clay court specialist, as are so many Spanish tennis players, had enjoyed a good week to reach his first final in the Godo and looked confident as he broke Nadal' s serve to go into a 3-0 lead in the first set. However, if there is one determining characteristic of Nadal' s personality it is his refusal to give up without a fight and as light rain fell on the court, he dug deep and leveled the tie.
Neither player was able to dominate, but in the end Nadal' s determination saw him break Almagro again and he claimed the first set in 56 minutes.
Perhaps that served to give Nadal extra confidence, or perhaps it reminded Almagro that he had never beaten the world number five in their nine previous meetings and the second set was a more straightforward affair with the conditions presenting the biggest threat to Nadal' s title.