Rio Open 2014: Rafael Nadal takes title with straight sets win over Alexandr Dolgopolov

Rafael Nadal does his customary ritual of biting the trophy after his Rio Open win

Dolgopolov continued to make errors and Nadal sensed his chance. He hammered away at Dolgopolov’s backhand and a mistake at the net cord at 15-40 gave him his second break of the match.

Nadal continued to roll away, stepping up into the court and striking the ball clean and hard and out of reach of Dolgopolov.

Still, the Ukrainian did produce moments of inspired play. His serving was top notch for brief periods as he held on for 3-2. Nadal, by now, was in his element, as he held on with another love hold.

At 4-2, Nadal piled the pressure on Dolgopolov as he struck his trademark forehand pass down the line. Dolgopolov managed to hold on for deuce, but Nadal gained a break point when he struck the net. Dolgopolov saved it with a good hit to Nadal’s backhand and followed it up with an ace to get to game point. He hit a wide serve to Nadal’s backhand and nullified his return with a volley at the net to claw one back.

Dolgopolov went all out in the next game, as he tried to find a gap in Nadal’s defence. But Nadal doused the threat as he reeled strong shots off both sides and took the lead 5-3.

In a final act of resistance, Dolgopolov held on to his serve, making Nadal serve for the championship.

An anticlimax ensued. This was Nadal serving for a title on a claycourt and he rarely lets the opportunity slip. But Dolgopolov used the net cord to his advantage to put one net volley past Nadal, and Nadal then got his first time violation too. All of a sudden, Dolgopolov stood with a chance to break Nadal, as the latter mishit a shot into the net. Dolgopolov then broke him with a superb angled shot which Nadal couldn’t reach. It was a great time to win his very first game off Nadal’s serve in all their meetings.

Nadal countered the only way he knew. He quickly overcame any disappointment of not closing the match and produced a brilliant service game to take it into a tie-break.

Nadal took the lead in the breaker with an early mini-break. Dolgopolov countered with a great passing shot, but Nadal sealed the next point with a convincing shot from inside the court to take a 2-1 lead. Dolgopolov then double faulted and mishit a forehand into the net to give Nadal breathing space at 4-1.

Nadal took it to 5-2, with Dolgopolov serving hanging by a thread. The Ukrainian converted one service point but Nadal took the other, to give himself the chance to served for the title with three championship points. He converted on his first as Dolgopolov fired his service return long, and Nadal raised his arms in triumph, as the inaugural Rio Open Champion.

This was a gritty tournament for the Spaniard, with some highs and lows, but as ever, he found a way through them to win his first claycourt title of the season. Considering his staggering claycourt resume in past years, surely there are more titles to follow this year for the world’s best player.