Rafael Nadal continued his domination on clay defeating his fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in a straight sets 6-2, 7-5 in a rematch of last year's title bout to win his fifth consecutive Barcelona Open title.

Rafa took an imposing lead when he broke Ferrer in the third and fifth games of the first set.

The second set saw both players twice broken on serve, with Ferrer countering Nadal's powerful groundstrokes. But Rafa broke Ferrer in the 11th game before sealing his 35th singles crown a game later.

“This is much more than a dream for me,” Nadal said after lifting the huge Conde de Godo trophy.

“I never could have imagined I’d be here winning for a fifth time,” he added. “Congratulations to David. Even though it was not possible for him today he played a great tournament.”

Rafa has only lost four times on clay since 2005, most recently to fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero at last year’s Rome Masters.

He became the first man to win five Monte Carlo Masters in a row last weekend and is favourite for a fifth straight French Open crown when the grand slam begins in Paris next month.


(via sports.yahoo.com, photos/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal clinches his fifth successive Barcelona Open title