Rafael Nadal claimed his first hard-court ATP title at the Canada Masters in Montreal in 2005 at 19. Fourteen years later, Nadal returned to Montreal in 2019 and secured his fifth Canada Masters trophy, defending the title won 12 months earlier in Toronto.
The Spaniard toppled an in-form Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-0 in 70 minutes in the title clash, celebrating his 35th Masters 1000 crown and 83rd overall. Medvedev was a player to beat in the previous two weeks, competing at a very high level in Washington and Montreal.
Daniil lost the Washington final to Nick Kyrgios and reached his first Masters 1000 final in Montreal. The more experienced Nadal proved too strong, controlling the pace and emerging at the top quickly. Having a day off on Saturday, Rafa stepped on the court determined to give his best against the dangerous rival and claim the first title since Roland Garros.The Spaniard did everything right on the court and left Daniil far behind in the most one-sided final at this event since 1984!
Serving at 72%, Nadal lost only 11 points behind the initial shot. He fended off one break point in the encounter’s first game and never experienced troubles again. The pressure was on Daniil, and he could not deal with it. The Russian lost half of the points in his games and got broken four times from eight chances offered to the Spaniard.
Daniil grabbed half of the return games before the title clash. However, he could not repeat that against Rafa and offer the crown a more exciting match. The Spaniard had 12 winners and 13 unforced errors. In comparison, the Russian counted ten winners and 22 mistakes, missing equally from both wings.
Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev en route to his fifth Canada Open title in 2019.
They stayed close in the quickest points up to four strokes.
Rafa had the upper hand in the most extended exchanges, taking 30 out of 40 to control the pace and bring the victory home without any problems. Nadal repelled that lone break chance in the encounter’s first game with a service winner, closing it when Daniil sprayed a backhand error.
Medvedev held in game two with an ace before ruining all that two games later after a double fault that propelled Rafa 3-1 in front. Nadal confirmed the lead with a hold at love after a service winner and wasted a break chance at 4-1 that could have pushed him further ahead.A forehand down the line winner sent Nadal 5-2 up.
He held at 30 after landing a perfect forehand down the line winner to close the set in 40 minutes, hoping for more in the second. Daniil netted a forehand in the second set’s first game to fall behind, spraying another error in game two to push Nadal further in front.
The Russian fired a backhand wide in game three to experience another break and fell 4-0 behind after a terrible forehand. The Spaniard opened a 5-0 gap following his opponent’s forced error at the net. Rafa held at 15 in the next one to seal the deal and celebrate his 35th Masters 1000 crown at 33.
