Rafael Nadal dropped only four games as he beat Roger Federer in 68 minutes to win his seventh Italian Open title. In the 30th career meeting between the pair, who share 28 Grand Slam singles titles, the Spaniard raced to a 6-1 6-3 victory at Rome's Foro Italico. In 2006 Nadal edged a classic final against Federer in this event, but this year he prevailed with plenty to spare. He has now won six of his eight tournaments since returning in February from a seven-month break due to injury. “If you'd told me that four or five months ago I would have said you are crazy,” said the 26-year-old, who has won 36 of 38 matches in 2013. “So after eight tournaments, six victories and two finals, it's a dream for me.” Nadal heads to the French Open in tremendous form as he looks to win an Open-era record eighth title at Roland Garros, and knowing he is likely to be seeded fourth -- and so potentially avoid leading rival Novak Djokovic until the semi-finals. With 11 wins in their 13 previous matches on clay, the Spaniard was a heavy favourite against Federer in Rome, but the manner of this victory was still mightily impressive. Federer, 31, did not help himself with too many unforced errors in the early stages, and his forehand let him down as he was broken in game three. A fizzing backhand return at the start of game four was Nadal's 11th point out of 13 as he tightened his grip on the first set. He broke again in a stunning rally that ended with a forehand winner that left Federer rooted to the spot, and the first set was over in little more than half an hour. A humiliation was on the cards when Nadal fired a backhand across Federer to break early in the second set after the Swiss had chipped a backhand down the line and gamely approached the net. Federer received loud and sympathetic applause when he held serve to claim only his second game of the match, making the score 6-1 3-1 to Nadal. The reigning champion then produced one of the shots of the tournament with a magnificent backhand winner down the line to break yet again, only for a late Federer flourish. He cut the deficit by two games to at least prolong the match beyond the hour mark, but Nadal was clinical when he got a second chance to serve it out, doing so to love. “He played very aggressively from the start,” said Federer. “He didn't make too many mistakes and had a good match overall. “Rafa has much more topspin than all the guys I played this week, so the change was quite a big one. I tried to play offensively, but unfortunately I didn't have the best day. “It didn't go the way I was hoping it to go.” Serena Williams completed her French Open preparations by beating Victoria Azarenka to win the Italian Open, her fourth consecutive tournament victory. Williams, the world number one, powered to a 6-1 6-3 victory in Rome, extending her unbeaten run to 24 matches. The American, 31, will head to Paris as a strong favourite to win the title at Roland Garros for only the second time. Her victory at the Foro Italico on Sunday followed wins in Miami, South Carolina and Madrid. A final tally of 41 winners to 12 illustrated the difference between Sunday's finalists, with Williams constantly threatening Azarenka and keeping her on the back foot. Azarenka, 23, lost her number one ranking to Williams earlier this year and had won only two of their previous 13 encounters. The Belarusian put up some stern resistance in the early stages but, despite repeatedly taking Williams to deuce in an opening three games that lasted more than 20 minutes, the American won them all. Azarenka got one of the breaks back in game four but then immediately dropped serve to love under pressure from the Williams return. When she slipped 5-1 down, the frustration boiled over for Azarenka as she smacked her racquet on the clay, and the set was done and dusted after 45 minutes. Williams opened the second in similarly commanding style, pushing for another breakthrough and finally taking it to move 4-2 ahead and seemingly within sight of victory. Azarenka briefly stemmed the tide with her second break of the match, but after a couple of blistering Williams forehands, the Belarusian double-faulted to hand over the next game. Williams blasted down her seventh and eighth aces of the match to move to three championship points, and converted the first with a scream of delight after one hour and 33 minutes. “It was very close,” said Williams. “The first three games were over 20-25 minutes or so, so it wasn't really easy out there. Nothing is really easy. “I just took the opportunities when I had them. I know she did as well, but I came up with the good shots sometimes.” Azarenka admitted: “She definitely showed some more incredible tennis today. She's been playing her best tennis for the past year-and-a-half or so. “But today she played much better in the key moments of the match.” (compiled from news agencies)
