<p>BARCELONA, Spain &mdash; Rafael Nadal saved a match point on his way to beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-5 on Sunday in the Barcelona Open final, winning the title for a record 12th time.</p>
<p>It was the first title of the year for the third-ranked Nadal, who has been struggling to find his best form. He secured the clay-court title by converting on his third match point.</p>
<p>The match lasted 3 hours, 38 minutes, making it the longest best-of-three set ATP final since stats started being tracked in 1991. It was also the longest best-of-three ATP match so far this year.</p>
<p>It was Nadal’s seventh title in the last 10 editions of the Barcelona Open, and 12th in 16 editions. The tournament was not played last year because of the pandemic. </p>
<p>Nadal also needed three sets to advance in his first two matches in Barcelona. He was coming off a loss to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters last week, a tournament that Tsitsipas won in a final against Rublev. </p>
<p>Tsitsipas, who had not lost a set on his way to the final in Barcelona, had beaten Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.</p>
<p>Nadal was behind from the start but won four straight games to take the first set. The top-seeded Spaniard got off to another slow start in the second set and needed another late break. He wasted two match points at 5-4, then saved three consecutive break points in the following game.</p>
<p>Tsitsipas converted on his third set point of the tiebreaker to force a third set. The Greek then himself squandered a match point when 5-4 ahead. Nadal survived, winning three straight games for the title.</p>
<p>Tsitsipas, the second-seeded player in Barcelona, was seeking his 27th win this season to surpass Rublev as the top winner on the men’s circuit.</p>
<p>The 34-year-old Nadal has won all 12 finals he reached in Barcelona. He dominated the tournament in his home country from 2005-09, 2011-13 and 2016-18. He lost in the 2019 semifinals to eventual champion Dominic Thiem.</p>
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