(March 1, 2015) Rafael Nadal won his first title since 2014 Roland Garros to claim his first Argentina Open trophy with a 6-4, 6-1 win over friend and doubles partner this week, Argentine Juan Monaco in Buenos Aires.
World No. 4 Nadal claimed his 46th clay court tournament victory, just three titles behind the record of 49, held by tennis hall of famer, Argentina’s Guillermo Vilas, who was in the stadium watching the match.
It’s also Nadal’s 65th ATP trophy for his career moving past Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg at 64 for sole possession of fifth place on the All-time Open Era list. This is the Spaniard’s first title in Buenos Aires title, in his first tournament appearance in Argentina in 10 years.
The match was delayed for two hours to begin with then delayed again after 1-1 in the first set.
Nadal broke Monaco’s serve in the seventh game of the first set and served out the set for 6-4. Nadal strolled out to a two break lead in the second set to go up 4-0 and never looked back.
“All titles are special, but I’m really happy because I have not been a champion for a long time,” Nadal said. “Against [Monaco], I played my best of the week. That is great news for me because I’m trying to gain more confidence.”
“It was a difficult week at first, but then I took confidence and I think I’m slowly returning to my best,” said Monaco. “That’s why I leave here happy.”