Barcelona Open final Barcelona Open final

Barcelona Open final

Barcelona Open final


Knowing he is still far from his best, Rafael Nadal just kept grinding it out.
He found a way Sunday to overcome lost opportunities in the Barcelona Open final and escape defeat while facing a red-hot opponent. Nadal won his first title of the year, squandering a couple of match points and then saving one on his way to beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-5.

Nadal secured his record 12th title at the clay-court tournament by converting on his third match point to cap a satisfying victory. It had been a lackluster start to the season for the third-ranked Nadal after he didn’t play much last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s the work of every day,” Nadal said. “It’s about accepting the challenge, it’s about being humble to accept that sometimes you are not playing that well. And you need to fight for it and you need to try to find a solution every day and that’s what I did.”

The match lasted 3 hours, 38 minutes, making it the longest best-of-three set ATP final since stats started being tracked in 1991. It was also the longest best-of-three ATP match so far this year.
It was Nadal’s seventh title in the last 10 editions of the Barcelona Open, and 12th in 16 editions. The tournament was not played last year because of the pandemic.
Nadal called it “probably the toughest final” he had to play in Barcelona.
“I never played a final like this in this tournament,” he said. “It means a lot to me. It was an important victory.”

Nadal also needed three sets to advance in his first two matches in Barcelona. He was coming off a loss to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters last week, a tournament that Tsitsipas won in a final against Rublev.
Tsitsipas, who had not lost a set on his way to the final in Barcelona, had beaten Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Nadal was behind from the start but won four straight games to take the first set. The top-seeded Spaniard got off to another slow start in the second set and needed another late break. He wasted two match points at 5-4, then saved three consecutive break points in the following game.

Tsitsipas converted on his third set point of the tiebreaker to force a third set. The Greek then himself squandered a match point when 5-4 ahead. Nadal survived, winning three straight games for the title.
Tsitsipas, the second-seeded player in Barcelona, was seeking his 27th win this season to surpass Rublev as the top winner on the men’s circuit.
The 34-year-old Nadal has won all 12 finals he reached in Barcelona. He dominated the tournament in his home country from 2005-09, 2011-13 and 2016-18. He lost in the 2019 semifinals to eventual champion Dominic Thiem.

And Other ,On Sunday Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said winning felt much better with fans in attendance after beating Tottenham 1-0 at Wembley to lift the League Cup for the fourth consecutive year in front of 8,000 supporters .
Aymeric Laporte’s header eight minutes from time finally rewarded a dominant performance from City as they extended Spurs’ 13-year wait to win a trophy.


For the first time in 13 months, a football match in England had designated fans from both teams inside the stadium in one of a series of test events at the 90,000 capacity Wembley as coronavirus restrictions are eased.
“It’s not full, but it is much better,” said Guardiola. “To celebrate with them is much better.
“We played really well. We are incredibly happy to win the first title, four in a row in this competition, but especially because in the last 33 games, we won 30.”

Defeat by Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals last weekend means City cannot claim an unprecedented quadruple of trophies this season. However, they remain on course for a treble with the first leg of their Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain to come on Wednesday before possibly sealing the Premier League title next weekend.

Victory takes Guardiola’s personal tally of major trophies to 25 across his spells in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, seven of which have come in England. “I was in big clubs: Barcelona, Bayern Munich and here, that’s why it is easier to do it,” added the Catalan modestly.
By contrast, Tottenham’s long wait for just one goes on. Spurs could have no complaints, though, at the end of a chaotic week that saw them sack Jose Mourinho on Monday and, along with City and four other English clubs, pull out of a proposed European Super League amid fan fury.

Son Heung-min was reduced to tears after full-time, but in caretaker boss Ryan Mason’s second game in charge, Spurs were completely outclassed by a far superior side. “It’s difficult to take for everyone associated with the football club,” said former Tottenham midfielder Mason. “It hurts. I know that feeling and it is normal that they are hurting. This group of players care deeply about this football club. We tried, it wasn’t enough today and it’s tough to take.”

After a slight dip in form in recent weeks, City were back to their best as they pinned Tottenham back from the first whistle and should have won by a far more comfortable scoreline. Hugo Lloris’s goal lived a charmed life, particularly during the first half. Raheem Sterling saw a goalbound effort blocked by Toby Alderweireld before Lloris made a stunning save from point-blank range to turn behind Phil Foden’s shot. A Sterling dink over Lloris then spun just wide before Riyad Mahrez twice flashed powerful efforts inches off target.
Despite Harry Kane’s recovery from an ankle injury to start, Tottenham had offered nothing as an attacking threat until Giovani Lo Celso forced Zack Steffen into a fine save a minute into the second half.

The majority of the chances continued to come at the other end, but the breakthrough came from an unlikely source as Laporte rose highest to head home Kevin De Bruyne’s free-kick at the back post.
Spurs’ energies were spent after conceding as they failed to muster any response to try and take the game to extra-time. Mahrez had a second goal ruled out for offside in stoppage time. But one goal was enough to ensure City move level with Liverpool on a record eight League Cup triumphs, six of which have come in the last eight years.

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