Nadal wins 46th clay-court title

London, March 2

Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal beat home favourite Juan Monaco in straight sets at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires to claim a record-equalling 46th career clay-court title.

The world No.4 moved on to the same number of titles as Monaco’s compatriot Guillermo Vilas following 6-4, 6-1 his win over the Argentine.
Rain had delayed the start of the match and there was a further hold-up at 1-1 in the opening set, but once play got started, the Spaniard swept to an easy victory, the BBC reported. The nine-time French Open champion said that he had the hope of winning here and added that he prepared very well for this so it’s objective achieved.
It was the ‘King of Clay’s’ first final since winning at Roland Garros last June, having been hampered by a wrist injury and appendicitis in the second half of 2014, and was his 65th career title.

Nishikori in top four, Murray out
Japan’s Kei Nishikori broke into the top four of the ATP world rankings on Monday as the Asian trailblazer continued to shake up the top echelon of men’s tennis.
His run to the final in Acapulco, where he was beaten by David Ferrer, elevated him to a new career-high ranking of four, taking him above Andy Murray. Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Murray have long been regarded as the ‘big four’ in the men’s game. Nishikori has equalled the highest ranking for a Japanese player, matching the feat of Kimiko Date-Krumm in the women’s list 20 years ago. — Agencies