MALLORCA tennis ace Rafael Nadal's 33rd Masters 1000 win, at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Sunday night against rising #NextGen star Stefanos Tsitsipas, not only gave him another trophy for his overflowing cabinet, but boosted his already strong chance of finishing the year as World No.1.
Unseeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has soared from world number 168 this time last year to number 15 after finishing as runner-up on Sunday in Toronto, was up against the Spaniard on his 20th birthday, having become the youngest player in the Open Era to beat four top ten opponents in one tournament (Dominic Thiem, former number one Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson).
Although Rafa clinched a straight-sets victory (6-2, 7-6 ), it was not all plain sailing. After a clinical first set and with the finishing line in sight, Nadal suddenly found himself up against an inspired player, with the Greek prodigy breaking him suddenly as he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.
Tsitsipas had won a total of only three points on Nadal's serve until then, but quickly gained momentum, unsettling the top seed to give himself set point at 6-5. Nadal successfully fended off the challenge to secure the tie-break, and returned to his relentless best to come back from a mini-break down in the breaker to scoop up his first hard-court Masters 1000 in five years.
Now with his fourth Rogers Cup and 80th ATP World Tour title in the bag, Rafa has levelled with Switzerland's Roger Federer and the USA's Jimmy Connors and Iván Lendl – the only other three to break the 80 barrier.
Nadal told reporters he was 'very happy' with his cracking start to the hard-court season.
"It's great news," he said. "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 colors during the whole event.
“You don't win Masters 1000s very often,” he admitted.
Shortly after winning in Toronto, Nadal announced that he was withdrawing from this week's Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, saying he was "taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now. "
