Rafael Nadal posts historic record on clay at Rome Italia Masters
ATP World No. 2 Rafael Nadal won his third ATP Masters Series shield of 2007 and stretched his clay-court winning streak to 77 matches by defeating Fernando Gonzalez 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Internazionali BNL D’Italia. He is the first player in the Open era to win three consecutive Rome titles and is now a perfect 17-0 at the event.
After grinding for more than 3 1/2 hours to defeat Nikolay Davydenko in Saturday’s semifinals, it was a return to business-as-usual for the clay king, who dropped just four games to Gonzalez in 84 minutes.
The Chilean, who enjoyed a crushing 6-1, 6-2 win over Filippo Volandri in the semifinals, held a rare 3-1 head-to-head edge over Nadal going into the final.
Nadal made just 14 unforced errors to Gonzalez’s 31 and dropped serve only once.
The Spaniard won his ninth ATP Masters Series title and improved his impressive record in ATP finals to 21-3 and his perfect record in clay finals to 16-0.
Nadal has won the past 13 clay court tournaments he has contested. The Spaniard improved to 32-5 on the year (15-0 on clay).
The 26-year-old Gonzalez was the first Chilean to reach the final since Marcelo Rios captured the 1998 title (d. Costa).
Check out Roger Federer’s Odds to win 2007 Wimbledon Tennis Championship at OddsHQ.com.
