By Chris Oddo | Sunday, February 22, 2015

 

David Ferrer was at his ground and pound best during his straight-sets title-clinching victory over Fabio Fognini in Rio.

Photo Source: Matthew Stockman/Getty

One Spaniard fell by the wayside in the Rio Open semifinals, so it was only fitting that another Spaniard took the title.

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David Ferrer, the ATP’s second in command when it comes to active clay-court wins with 289, breezed past Fabio Fognini, 6-2, 6-3, to notch his 22nd career title at the Rio Open.

Ferrer’s victory also gives him seven career “Golden Swing” titles, which snapped a tie with Nicolas Almagro and moved him two clear of Rafael Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten who each have five titles on Latin American clay.

The 32-year-old world No. 9 continued his dominance over Fognini—he has now won 17 of 19 sets from and taken all eight of their previous meetings—with a steady ground and pound effort that proved to be too much for a gassed-out Fognini. The Italian had done some grinding of his own earlier in the week, as he needed nine match points to take out Federico Delbonis in the quarterfinals in a match that lasted over three hours on Friday, then defeated Nadal in three grueling sets in yesterday’s stunning semifinal upset.

Ferrer, ever the consummate pro and a veteran of 48 ATP finals, was ready to capitalize on Fognini’s lack of spunk, and he did so with his trademark ferocity. Ferrer broke Fognini on two of six opportunities and saved the only break point to take the opener, then built a 5-1 lead before Fognini started to make a comeback.

But the Italian’s consistency wasn’t quite there in the final game as he ran out of steam after closing to 5-3.

After saving Ferrer’s first match point to get to deuce, Ferrer would clinch the title by extracting back-to-back forehand errors from Fognini. He dropped to the clay before rising to his feet and raising his arms in a heartfelt celebration.

The victory gives Ferrer 23 titles for his career, while Fognini drops to 3-6 in title matches.