Nadal passes Borg

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Rafael Nadal

RAFAEL Nadal beat Tommy Robredo 6-4 6-4 6-0 in the final of the Barcelona Open on Sunday to claim his 47th clay-court win in a row. The victory put Nadal, above, ahead of Swedish legend Bjorn Borg into second place in the all-time list for consecutive wins.

The Spaniard took two hours, 19 minutes to outmuscle compatriot Robredo for his third title of the year.

He is now just six wins behind the record holder, Argentine Guillermo Vilas, who set his mark in 1977.

Nadal's last loss on clay was to Russian Igor Andreev in April 2005.

"I've achieved my main objective here, and I've overtaken Borg's number of wins and I guess I could try to go for Vilas' total in Rome," Nadal said. "But I have my sights set on Roland Garros.

"You can't compare me to Borg. He was the greatest tennis player of all time. I can't see myself winning five Wimbledons."

However, 11-time Grand Slam champion Borg believes Nadal could start this year.

"I congratulate Nadal," Borg said in a statement released by the ATP. "He's fun to watch and I hope he wins Wimbledon."

Sunday's victory was Nadal's third straight- sets win over Robredo in a row after the third round in Madrid and the semi-finals in Bastad in 2005.

Robredo said: "I want to congratulate Rafa on his win. I did all I could but it wasn't enough so I'll just have to carry on training for next year."