Rafael Nadal lifts ATP Tour trophy No 80 after winning Rogers Cup

World No 1 Rafael Nadal saw off the challenge of Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the Rogers Cup for a fourth time.
The top-seeded Nadal was always in command, but Tsitsipas did put up a fight in the second set before going down 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) in one hour and 42 minutes in his first ATP Tour Masters final.
King in Canada 🇨🇦@RafaelNadal wins 80th ATP title 6-2 7-6(4) over Tsitsipas.#RogersCup pic.twitter.com/8TaOxxmHnR
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 12, 2018
The Spaniard broke twice in the first set and then had the early advantage in the second set with a break in the opening game.
However, the 20-year-old Greek levelled things with a break of his own in game 10, but Nadal completed the job in the tie-breaker.
The victory earned Nadal an 80th ATP Tour singles title and a 33rd Masters trophy.
“It’s a great way to start the hard-court season. Winning in Toronto is so important,” Nadal said. “You don’t win Masters 1000s very often. It’s a very important victory for me and I’m very happy.”
He added: “It’s great news. It’s a tournament that I won four times. Canada is a place that I feel comfortable. I play well. That’s it. And I played with the Canadian colours during the whole event.
“The 80th tournament win is of course a great number, an important one. I’m very happy. But it’s about another Masters 1000. Masters 1000s are tournaments that are so difficult to win, sometimes are even more difficult to win Masters 1000s than Grand Slams because you can’t avoid tough opponents. And that’s it.”
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