World No. 3 Rafael Nadal won a record-equalling 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title Sunday when he overcame fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 in a rain-hit final at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.At the age of just 23, Nadal has drawn level with the retired Andre Agassi, who has held the record of 17 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles since winning his last of the coveted shields in Cincinnati in 2004, aged 34. Roger Federer is in second place with 16 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles.
"I am 23 and sure 17 is a very important number for me," said Nadal. "There are some tournaments coming up – Madrid is coming up soon – and so I'm going to try to keep winning, but these tournaments are very difficult and some of the best players in the world are there."
Watch Video --> Rafael Nadal Post-Win Interview
As the winner, Nadal received 1000 South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking points and €434,000, while Ferrer, who finished runner-up in his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, earned 600 ranking points and €203,000 in prize money.
"The important thing is that I won a very important tournament and finally I am very happy," said Nadal. "Probably I didn't play as well as Monte Carlo. I played well, but not as well as Monte Carlo, but the important thing is winning."
Nadal won the Rome title for the fifth time, having previously triumphed in 2005-2007 and last year with victory over Novak Djokovic in the final. He holds a 27-1 event record. Throughout the week, Nadal held serve 49 of 50 games and saved 15 of 16 break points. The only player to break his serve was Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who pushed Nadal to three sets in the semi-finals.
No comments:
Post a Comment