RAFAEL NADAL won the Barcelona Open for the 12th time Sunday after saving a championship point to end Stefanos Tsitsipas’ perfect record on clay this year in a thrilling final.

Nadal won 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5 in the ATP’s longest match of 2021.

The Spaniard secured his first title of the year and 87th of his career, denying Tsitsipas back-to-back triumphs following his maiden Masters 1000 title at Monte Carlo last week.

Nadal avenged his Australian Open quarterfinal loss to Tsitsipas and returned to second in the ATP rankings yesterday by climbing back above Daniil Medvedev after his marathon 3-hour 38-minute win.

“It means a lot for me to play the final here and win,” said Nadal. “I improved my level during the week and this trophy means a lot.”

Nadal redeemed himself after a surprise quarter-final exit in Monte Carlo, but the three sets dropped en route to the title represented the most in any of his wins here.

“It’s an everyday job, accepting the challenge, staying humble when sometimes you don’t play as well and you have to fight to find solutions every day.”

No man has won more matches this year than Tsitsipas (26 matches) but the 22-year-old has lost all seven finals at the ATP 500 level. “I’m really jealous. But you’ve earned it. You’re one of the biggest competitors in our sport, I’m sure you know that,”joked Tsitsipas.

Second seed Tsitsipas, a Roland Garros semifinalist in 2020, had won all 17 sets on clay this season and entered the final unbeaten on the surface in nine matches. The Greek built up a 4-2 lead in the opening set after breaking Nadal in the third game but dropped his serve twice in succession as the 20-time Grand Slam champion hit back to win four games in a row.

Tsitsipas again procured an early break in set two but Nadal responded to haul himself level at 3-all.(SD-Agencies)