Rafael Nadal breezed to a fifth Rome Masters title in six years and then revealed that he is losing none of the fire that has seen him dominate clay tennis since 2005. The 23-year-old world number three matched American legend Andre Agassi's record of 17 Masters titles as he beat compatriot and 13th seed David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 at the Foro Italico.
That took his overall record on clay to 191 wins to just 17 defeats.
He has won the Monte Carlo Masters six years in a row, won Rome five times in six years, won Barcelona five years in a row before skipping it this season and will be aiming for a fifth win in six years at Roland Garros later this month.
“It's not true that I don't have bad days. I've had a lot of bad days in the past five or six years,” he said. “The thing is to have high motivation.