Rafael Nadal plays a solid match, bags 35th Masters crown

Rafael Nadal celebrates his win over Daniil Medvedev in the men's singles final at Montreal, Canada. Pic /AFP

Montreal: Rafael Nadal completed a 6-3, 6-0 demolition of Russian Daniil Medvedev to win in Montreal on Sunday and extend his record haul of Masters 1000 titles.

The World No. 2 secured his 35th Masters crown, pulling clear by two in that category from Novak Djokovic, who has won 33 of the elite tournaments.

Claycourt king Nadal successfully defended a hard court title for the first time in his career. "It was important to start the match in a good shape," the 18-time Grand Slam winner said.

Nadal praises Medvedev

"He came in playing so well, playing a lot of matches the last weeks," Nadal added of Medvedev, who was runner-up to Nick Kyrgios in Washington last week.
Nadal, in contrast, had played just three hard court matches since starting his build up to the US Open this week - reaching the final on a walkover when injured Gael Monfils pulled out of their scheduled semi-final.

"I played a solid match, my best of the week so far without a doubt," Nadal said.

"I did a lot of things well: changing directions, changing rhythm during the point. The slice worked well this afternoon. "I think I played smart, I had a good feeling on the ball."

With all that going for him, Nadal needed just 70 minutes to subdue Medvedev, breaking the Russian four times.

Rafa to skip Cincinnati

Hours later Nadal said he would skip the Cincinnati Masters, where he was seeded second behind Djokovic and ahead of Roger Federer. "No other reason than personally taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now," he said in a Facebook post.

The top seed, who now owns five Canadian title dating to 2005, swept the last seven games in the hardcourt blowout against his Russian opponent, 23, - who had never played Nadal before. "I've played Roger [Federer] two times, Novak [Djokovic] four times," Medvedev said.

"I knew how it was going to be, I was kind of ready for it. But I didn't manage to probably show my best tennis. Rafa was incredible today. Congrats to him." Despite the defeat, Medvedev was pleased with his time in Toronto. "I believe this was the best week ever," said Medvedev, who will move up to a career high of eighth in the world.

Nadal stays at No. 2; Djoko rules rankings

Paris: Rafael Nadal's Rogers Cup win in Montreal at the weekend marked a significant step for the Spaniard as he prepares for the US Open but it wasn't enough to topple Novak Djokovic at the top of the ATP rankings, released yesterday. Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem stay third and fourth respectively. Stefanos Tsitsipas, who entered the top five for the first time last week, drops two places and is leapfrogged by Kei Nishikori and Alexander Zverev. Medvedev's reward for his appearance in Sunday's final was a one-place climb to eight.

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