Nadal still king of Barcelona Open

Rafael Nadal saved a championship point to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5, on Sunday and claim a 12th Barcelona Open title in the ATP’s longest match of 2021.

The Spaniard secured his first title of the year and 87th of his career, denying Tsitsipas back-to-back triumphs following his maiden Masters 1000 title at Monte Carlo last week.

Nadal avenged his Australian Open quarterfinal loss to Tsitsipas and will return to second in the ATP rankings on Monday by climbing back above Daniil Medvedev after his marathon three-hour 38-minute win.

“I improved my level during the week and this trophy means a lot,” he said.

Nadal redeemed himself after a surprise quarterfinal exit in Monte Carlo, but the three sets dropped en route to the title represented the most in any of his wins here.

“It’s an everyday job, accepting the challenge, staying humble when sometimes you don’t play as well and you have to fight to find solutions every day.”