Rome: The  Spaniard  defeated his swiss rival Roger  Federer 6-1,6-3  to  win  the his  seventh  masters  title  here  on  Sunday.  Competing in his eighth final in a row since making a comeback from a seven month injury lay off in february, raced to a 6-1, 6-3 win in one hour and nine minutes to claim his third straight title and sixth of 2013.

He has now won six of his eight tournaments since returning in February from a seven-month break due to injury. Nadal, 26, heads to the French Open in tremendous form as he looks to win an “open era” record eighth title at Roland Garros.

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. The clay court master was at his clinical best, converting five out of six break-point opportunities, while the Swiss had to settle for one out of two.

It was the first time the pair, who have won 28 grand slam titles between them, have met in a final since the 2011 French Open, an encounter Nadal won, and the fifth seed showed his great rival no mercy again yesterday.

Serena Williams  was  so  good  as  she  won her fourth consecutive tennis tour title when she thrashed former World No 1 Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3 to take the Italian Open on Sunday.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna ended up as runners-up at the Rome Masters after a tame straight sets defeat at the hands of top-seeded american team of Mike and Bob Bryan.