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World No. 2 Rafael Nadal captured the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell trophy for the seventh time on Sunday as he defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-6(1), 7-5 in the final. He was contesting his 69th tour-level final and won his 48th title.
It is the fourth time that Nadal has beaten Ferrer in the final of this ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tennis tournament. He has won his past 34 matches at the event and lifted the trophies from 2005-2009 and 2011-2012.

**Rafael Nadal has won his second men’s singles title of 2012, winning his seventh career crown in Barcelona. He thereby claimed his 48th career men’s singles tournament title, which sees him equal Ilie Nastase in 10th place all-time.**

"It's almost unimaginable to win here seven times," said Nadal. "It's a special tournament for me, at home in my club. To win at home in front of the people you know is always more special. I played at a very high level to win in Monte-Carlo and now Barcelona without losing a set, but I've been playing at a high level from the beginning of the year starting in Australia.
"The emotions are always high, but probably each year they get a bit higher as you are one year older and you don't know how many chances you are going to have left."

"It was a very equal match," reflected Nadal. "He didn't let me play my best level in the first set. I feel sorry for David and hope he can win here one day because he deserves it. Of course I am very happy to win two titles in a row and to start the clay court season like this."

"I had chances in both sets; he played better in the important moments," conceded Ferrer. "It's always hard to lose a final, but especially today it's hard because of the way it happened. It came down to small details, but Rafa deserved it.
"Overall I'm happy with my week. I played my best match of the week today, but to win against Rafa I had to do more. I played a bit too conservatively on the set points in the first set. It's difficult to lose my fourth final. It was a very good tournament for me."

 **Most career men’s singles titles - ATP**
109 - Jimmy Connors (USA)
94 - Ivan Lendl (TCH/USA)
77 - John McEnroe (USA)
73 - Roger Federer (SUI)
64 - Björn Borg (SWE)
64 - Pete Sampras (USA)
62 - Guillermo Vilas (ARG)
60 - Andre Agassi (USA)
49 - Boris Becker (GER)
48 - Ilie Nastase (ROU)
48 - Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Source: ATP