Rafael Nadal saved a championship point to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5 on Sunday to claim his 12th Barcelona Open title in the ATP's longest match of 2021.
The Spaniard secured his first title of the year and 87th of his career, denying Tsitsipas back-to-back triumphs following his maiden Masters 1000 victory at Monte Carlo last week.
Nadal avenged his Australian Open quarterfinal loss to Tsitsipas and will return to No. 2 in the ATP rankings on Monday after his marathon 3-hour, 38-minute win.