Rafael nadal secures seventh Barcelona Open title following defeat of Spanish compatriot David Ferrer

Gripping victory: Rafael Nadal holds the Barcelona Open trophy following his defeat of David Ferrer 

Sunday was a kind of birthday for Rafael Nadal — the 10th anniversary of the day when a precociously muscular 16 year-old bounded on to the ATP tour, ambushing the experienced Ramon Delgado 6-4, 6-4 in front of a crowd of delighted Mallorcans. A few things had changed since then, but not Nadal’s warrior instincts. As Spain has gone from boom to (nearly) bust, its biggest sporting icon has just kept on winning. Especially through the Spanish leg of the clay-court season, where he has monopolised the Barcelona Open for seven of the last eight years. (In 2010, knee trouble ruled him out.)Nadal beat David Ferrer 7-6, 7-5 in the Barcelona final yesterday to extend that unbroken run at the Real Club de Tennis to 36 matches. The last man to beat him here was Andy Murray’s former coach Alex Corretja, all the way back in 2003. He has not even lost a set since the 2008 final, when Ferrer was again the opponent.Ferrer always makes an obdurate adversary, and yesterday’s match was far from being an easy ride. The first set alone lasted 93 minutes, and Nadal had to fight off five set-points before finally holding serve to bring up the tie-break. But while Ferrer produced some magnificent winners, he did perhaps lack the self-belief to go for broke on one of those set-points.When you have lost your last 10 clay-court matches against someone, it is hard to break the pattern. This was the third time Ferrer had lifted the runners-up trophy in Barcelona, and his conqueror — or should we say conquistador? — was Nadal on each occasion.Nadal’s performance was rock-solid at most of the important moments (barring one uncharacteristic double-fault on break-point down). We know about his huge topspin forehand, which puts more revolutions on the ball than any other shot in tennis, but he has also improved his double-fisted backhand over the off-season in his determination to end his long losing streak against Novak Djokovic.