May 13, 2013 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
Rafael Nadal captured his 23rd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy and his third title at the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday, a 6-2, 6-4 win over Stanislas Wawrinka. With the win, Nadal is tied for second with Thomas Muster in the Open Era with 40 clay-court titles and is 40-6 overall in clay court finals in his career.
The news was not all that bad for Wawrinka, who was on a nine-match winning streak, and finished runner-up at the 2008 Internazionali BNL d’Italia losing to Novak Djokovic. Wawrinka drops to 4-8 overall in title matches and has a 25-9 record to date on the 2013 season. On Monday, Wawrinka returned to the top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. He was last ranked among the elite on Oct. 6, 2008, reaching a career-high of number nine in the world in June of 2008.
"I’m very happy for everything that has happened," said Nadal. "Forty titles on clay are far more than I ever dreamed of [winning]."
