Rafael Nadal is peaking at the right time.
With the French Open looming two weeks away, Nadal won a key clay-court warm-up for his favourite Grand Slam event, taking the Rome Masters tournament on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-2 whipping of Fernando Gonzalez.
Spain's Rafael Nadal became the first player to win three straight Rome titles by defeating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in Sunday's final.
(Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images)
The victory gave Nadal a record three straight Rome titles and extended his winning streak on clay to 77 matches. By reaching the final, the 20-year-old Spaniard had already broken John McEnroe's mark for most consecutive victories on one surface.
McEnroe strung together 75 wins on indoor carpet between 1983 and 1985.
"I've had the good fortune of coming here for three years and winning for three years," Nadal said. "It's an incredible sensation."
The second-ranked Nadal needed only one hour, 24 minutes to dispatch Gonzalez, who hails from Chile.
"It's hard to play Rafael. He played great tennis today," Gonzalez said of the two-time defending French Open champion.
Nadal broke serve in the first game, and took the first set with a volley that sent the sixth-ranked Gonzalez tumbling in an effort to reach the ball.
Nadal took a 3-0 lead in the second set as Gonzalez kept missing what is usually his most effective shot, a powerful forehand.
"Fernando made way more errors than usual and I took advantage of it," said Nadal, who has not lost on clay since Igor Andreev beat him in the quarter-finals in Spain in April 2005.
The French Open begins May 27 in Paris.
