Record-setting Nadal captures sixth Barcelona title

BARCELONA: World number one Rafael Nadal created more history on Sunday when he became the only man to win two tournaments more than six times after defeating David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4 in the Barcelona Open final.

The Spanish top seed, with 34 consecutive victories on clay, repeated his victory a week ago when he beat Ferrer for a seventh Monte Carlo trophy.

Nadal improved to a phenomenal 31-2 in claycourt finals with his only two losses coming to Roger Federer at Hamburg in 2007 and Madrid two years ago.

The Spanish powerhouse will now allow himself a few well-deserved days off but will quickly have to get back into winning mode with the Madrid Masters starting next Sunday and another title defence on the line for the world number one.

Nadal's runaway victory in one hour and 49 minutes put him into third place on the all-time claycourt trophy list.

Only Guillermo Vilas, with 45 titles, and Thomas Muster, who won 40, are above his own 31.

Nadal's comprehensive victory was his 13th in 17 matches played against Ferrer.

Nadal's return to the event after missing 2010 because of a knee injury was a joy and relief.

Spain continued to dominate in Barcelona, with at least one Spaniard playing the final for the ninth straight year. The last non-Spaniard to win was Argentina's Gaston Gaudio in 2002.

Nadal, the reigning French Open champion, has not lost on clay since going out to Robin Soderling in the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2009.

As he did in his semi-final win over Croatian Ivan Dodig, which was the 500th victory of his career, Nadal lost early breaks in each set but always managed to fight back.

Over the course of his 34-match unbeaten clay run, Nadal has won 76 of 79 sets. He lost just 21 games during the week in Barcelona.