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(April 28th, 2013) -- On a cold and rainy day in Barcelona, Rafael Nadal warmed up his championship game after a slow start to win an unprecedented eighth title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell event.
Nadal faced off against fellow Spaniard
Nicolas Almagro over which he owned an 9-0 lifetime head to head advantage. But it was Almagro who looked like he was ready to challenge the former World No. 1 early on as Almagro jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead thanks to some spectacular shotmaking as he hit lines on every corner.
A brief rain delay halted play for a few minutes. When both men stepped back onto the court, that break appeared to affect Almagro more as his form dipped while Nadal looked more settled in the soggy conditions.
Nadal soon pulled even with Almagro for 3-all. But when Almagro held serve with more conviction for 4-all, it looked Almagro might turn this into a close contest.
Almagro held three break points against Nadal's serve in the next game, but Nadal finally held after multiple deuces for 5-4. Nadal soon pounced on his first set point against Almagro a game later and wrapped up the set 6-4.
Nadal made his move again in the second set when he secured the first break of serve for 3-1. From there, Nadal's confidence grew while Almagro's own game faded along with his chances of making any sort of comeback.
With the local crowd cheering him on, Nadal stepped up to the line to serve out the title at 5-3. With clinical fashion, Nadal closed out the game to love and with that he became the champion of Barcelona once again with the 6-4, 6-3 win.
This now marks Nadal's eighth title in nine appearances in Barcelona and his 39th straight match win there. For the 2012 season, Nadal has now reached the finals of all six events he has entered -- winning four titles and being a runner-up in two.