Acapulco: Rafael Nadal blasted past top seed and defending champion David Ferrer 6-0, 6-2 in Saturday's final of the Mexican Open in a powerful performance that indicated he has quickly returned to near his best after a long-term knee injury.
Ferrer was a three-time defending champion and had won 19 straight matches in this event, but he could find no answer to Nadal, losing to his Spanish compatriot in just one hour and five minutes. The women's final was similarly one-sided with Italy's Sara Errani beating Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain 6--0, 6-4.
Nadal missed seven months with a left knee injury before making his comeback in the Latin American clay court season. He has played three tournaments: making the final but surprisingly losing to Horacio Zeballos in Chile, taking out the Brasil Open by beating David Nalbandian and now cruising past Ferrer for his 38th clay title. Seven of those 38 have been against Ferrer.
The 11-time major champion broke Ferrer five times from eight opportunities, winning 58 per cent of his return points. He improved his record against Ferrer to 17-4. Ferrer had successfully defended titles already this year at Auckland and Buenos Aires but was not able to make it four straight Mexican Opens.
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