The King of Clay completed the second part of his "Triple Decima" quest as he outplayed the fourth seed Dominic Thiem, 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in the Catalan capital on Sunday. Nadal, who captured a 10th Monte Carlo Masters last weekend, will be aiming to build momentum ahead of the French Open.
Defending champion Nadal eased past Hyeon Chung of South Korea 7-6 (1), 6-2.
The duo have met each other thrice in the past, with Nadal now leading 2-1 with their last meeting coming in the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2016.
Rafael Nadal further cemented his status as the favorite for the French Open this week in Barcelona, making more history along the way.
"It was vital for me to win the first set", he added.
"Feli (Feliciano Lopez) uses a lot of slice and variation, Ramos (Albert Ramos-Vinolas) yesterday is a lefty and today against Dominic, who plays with the kick serve and so much spin".
"It was kind of the opposite of the match we had last week where probably today he deserved to win".
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Nadal, a nine-time champion on Barcelona's clay, said he "wasn't surprised" by Thiem's first win over Murray in three attempts.
Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray advanced together again, reaching the Barcelona Open semifinals on Friday in the same manner they have won all week: Nadal cruised and Murray labored. "It will be a tough match for me, but I am just happy to be back in the final".
A mixture of brilliant striking from Thiem and sloppy play from Murray led to a double-break 4-1 lead when the Scot sent a forehand long. "I was the luckiest in the end".
This is the former World No. 1's 51 title on clay and his 71 career crown overall.
"It was vital for me to win the first set", Nadal said.
Thiem paid tribute to his opponent, saying: "First of all, congrats to Rafa, 10 titles here and in Monte Carlo, it's unbelievable".
Nadal has been in superb form this season, finishing as the runner-up at the Australia Open and at the Miami Open, and dominating the start of the clay court season.
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