Rafael Nadal is back on top of his mental and physical game after completing a fortnight of history-making with the Spanish king of clay adding another line for the record books Sunday. The world No. 2 became the first man to win two separate events seven times, as he defeated battling compatriot David Ferrer 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 to win a seventh trophy at the Barcelona Open. That success came seven days after he thrashed world No. 1 Novak Djokovic for an eighth consecutive title at the Monte Carlo Masters. At the start of the month, Nadal would not have liked his victory chances after being forced to quit before his Miami semifinal with Andy Murray due to left knee pain. But a week or so of therapy, married to his iron will, has put the 25-year-old on course for what would be an unprecedented seventh French Open title. His Barcelona triumph marked his seventh title in eight editions, with his only loss prior to 34 straight victories coming in 2003 to current Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja. “I've won two extremely difficult events — Monte Carlo and Barcelona without losing a set,” said Nadal. “No one deserves more than David to win here, but I had the luck on the day. “When you play your best, as I always say, it's because the opponent makes you do so; that's what David did. I was able to play some of my best tennis in the first set. “You have to really enjoy the victories as you never know when you will have another one. I'm very happy to win but I'm only looking ahead to Madrid.” Nadal takes a well-deserved week off before heading to the Spanish capital for the Madrid Masters staring next Sunday. His Barcelona victory came a decade to the day since he made his winning ATP debut on his home island of Mallorca. Now he owns 34 claycourt titles and has lost only four finals on the surface. He now has 48 career trophies overall. Sharapova ecstatic Maria Sharapova said she was happy to open her clay-court season by winning Stuttgart's WTA tournament as part of her French Open preparations and to break her losing streak in finals. With the Madrid and Rome clay-court tournaments still to come before Roland Garros begins on May 27, the world No. 2 said she still has plenty of work ahead of her as she bids to win the one Grand Slam which eludes her. Having once described herself playing on clay as like ‘a cow on ice', Sharapova was in impressive form here as she saw off US Open winner Samantha Stosur and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova en route to the final. She blasted her way past subdued world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who had problems with her right wrist all week, for a 6-1, 6-4 victory in Sunday's final. It was her first title of the year. She also gained revenge for her Australian Open final defeat to Azarenka.
