Rafael Nadal fell victim at last year's Rogers Cup to a rising star in Denis Shapovalov, who was just making his mark on the ATP Tour, and sought his first professional title. Nadal sat in a similar position when he faced Stefanos Tsitsipas during the 2018 Rogers Cup final.
Tsitsipas advanced past No. 2 Alex Zverev, No. 4 Kevin Anderson, No. 7 Dominic Thiem and No. 9 Novak Djokovic to earn a spot against Nadal. The world No. 1, however, wasn't going to be subject to an upset for a second straight year.
Nadal defeated the 20-year-old Tsitsipas, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, in straight sets, 6-3 7-6(4), to claim the Rogers Cup championship. The win marks the fourth Rogers Cup championship since Nadal first won at the annual Canadian event in 2005.
King in Canada 🇨🇦@RafaelNadal wins 80th ATP title 6-2 7-6(4) over Tsitsipas.#RogersCup pic.twitter.com/8TaOxxmHnR
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 12, 2018
MORE: Rogers Cup 2018: Simona Halep wins title after defeating Sloane Stephens in three-set thriller
Nadal breezed through the first set in nearly flawless fashion. He won each of his 14 first serve points against the Greek native, and never looked back on his lead.
As Tsitsipas attempted to play his opponent across both corners of the court, Nadal promptly responded with a miraculous shot to steal the point. He fought to multiple break point opportunities to take the 2-1 advantage in the opening set. It was the opening Nadal needed as he won the next three games to take the commanding 5-1 lead.
The second set saw the same elusive play from Nadal as a set prior. He broke the opening game and ultimately took the minor 2-0 lead over Tsitsipas, who desperately searched for a small window to climb back into the match. Tsitsipas rallied back to hold service, but Nadal wasn't breaking either.
Relentless Rafa.
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 12, 2018
Nadal hitting all the sweet spots as he takes the first set 6-2 over Nadal.
Second set ➡️ https://t.co/hOHmv2wMlX#RogersCup pic.twitter.com/57C2vzHV80
Both exchanged their best shots as Nadal held the one-game lead to serve for the championship. While Tsitsipas struggled to break Nadal's precise service game, he broke through when he needed to the most. He was able to extend the match broke Nadal at 5-5 in the second set.
For the first time since the match's opening set, Tsitsipas took his first lead but it didn't last long. Nadal fended off a break point and multiple deuces in the ensuing game to force the decisive tiebreak.
Despite trailing 3-2 in the tiebreak session, Nadal seized five of the next six points to leave Toronto with some pretty nice hardware.
Nadal doesn't know what's next for him as the Cincinnati Masters remains an option, but he is in an ideal position as he takes his hard-court success into the U.S. Open.