Rafael Nadal won a second successive Madrid Open title when Kei Nishikori was forced to retire in the third set in the final in Madrid. (Reuters)

Agencies/Madrid


Top seed Rafa Nadal won a second successive Madrid Open title when Kei Nishikori was forced to retire in the third set of yesterday’s final with an apparent back injury.
Japanese 10th seed Nishikori made a blistering start on Nadal’s favoured clay to win the first set 6-2 and was a break up in the second before the Spanish world number one hit back to win it 6-4 and force a decider. In a tremendously disappointing finish to an entertaining encounter, Nishikori was struck down by what appeared to be a back spasm and despite treatment had to retire with Nadal leading 3-0 in the third set.
The defending champion, who was competing in his 90th final, won a 27th crown at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level.
The Spaniard moved into solo sixth place on the all-time tour-level titles list with 63, pulling to within one of Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras. The Madrid champion in 2005, 2010 and 2013, Nadal improved his record in finals this year to 3-2.
Nishikori was competing in his first Masters 1000 final and was looking to complete a title sweep of all three ATP World Tour levels in 2014. The Japanese, who will become the first man from his country to ascend to the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings today, prevailed at the ATP World Tour 250 level in Memphis and on the 500 stage in Barcelona.
Nadal improved his dominant Head-to-Head advantage to 7-0 against Nishikori, having now won 17 of 19 sets played. Their previous meeting was a tightly-contested fourth round affair at this year’s Australian Open, won by the Mallorca native 7-6(3), 7-5, 7-6(3). Nishikori rallied from 1-4 down in the third set and served for it at 5-4, but was unable to force a fourth.

Native son
The Spanish faithful flooded into the Caja Magica to see their native son vie for a fourth title in his home capital with Nishikori looking to conjure a magic trick of his own, on the doorstep of the biggest match of his young career.
In their most recent meeting at the Australian Open, Nishikori had pushed Nadal to the brink in each set behind a high-risk, hyper-aggressive brand of tennis. The Japanese executed the necessary patterns to rattle Nadal with great depth and variety on his groundstrokes, shortening points with first-strike tennis, but came up short in the end.
In the first, Nadal won the first six points, infiltrating Nishikori’s defence behind a relentless forehand attack, but the Shimane native settled in, staving off a break point early and breaking in the third game. Two forehand errors and a double fault by Nadal gave the 24-year-old Nishikori a pair of break points and he converted on his second following a spectacular rally, capped by a twisting backhand smash at the net.
Nishikori continued to attack with his backhand as the set progressed. The Japanese extended his advantage with a second break of serve for 4-1, teeing off on a second serve from Nadal to secure it with the return winner. Nishikori drained Nadal’s rhythm and pace off the ground as the set wore on, resulting in an uncharacteristic 12 unforced errors to just two winners as the Japanese claimed the set in 36 minutes, firing an ace seal it.
In the second set, Nishikori continued to pellet Nadal’s defence with backhand, ripping it cross-court to the Spaniard’s forehand and drawing errors. He kept his foot on the gas with a break to love in the first game and dug deep from a 0-40 deficit in the second, holding in spectacular fashion.

Smelling blood
But Nadal would not go away quietly, smelling blood when Nishikori requested a visit from the trainer for his back after the seventh game. In a dramatic turn of events, Nadal found a second gear as a physically hampered Nishikori immediately conceded a break of serve to level the set. His movement suddenly compromised and that allowed Nadal to rediscover his groove to secure the second set.
In the third set, Nishikori turned in a valiant effort, fighting through apparent pain for three games. But he was forced to retire during the 3-0 changeover, in an unfortunate conclusion to a riveting battle.