Charlie Smith
AT 33 years old Rafael Nadal has for the first time in his career defended a non-clay title by winning the Rogers Cup in Canada.
The Spanish 18-time Grand Slam champion overcame Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 6-3 6-0 in an hour and 10 minutes in Montreal.
The tournament’s top seed took home €940,000 in prize money, for what was his 35th Masters 1,000 tournament victory at the IGA Stadium.
Current world number two Nadal lifted the Rogers Cup for the fifth time after his first victory in 2005.
He said: “I played a solid match, my best match of the week so far without a doubt.
“I did a lot of things well: changing directions, changing rhythms.
“It’s so important to be back on hard courts and to win a big title. It’s just about enjoying this one.”
Nadal went 3-1 up against eighth seed Medvedev after the Russian failed to capitalise on a break point in the first game.
Then trailing by 4-0 in the second set, a shaken Medvedev was broken again and Nadal served out the match to win his 51st final, one more than Roger Federer has played in.
