In his home country, Rafael Nadal secured his fifth Madrid Open title by seeing off Dominic Thiem in a comfortable final for the Spaniard in the end.

Nadal saw off Thiem 7-6, (10-8), 6-4 in Madrid to move in to the top four in the world rankings.

The victory also means that Nadal has now recorded three titles in a row, with the success in Madrid following up victories at the Barcelona Open and Monte Carlo Masters.

Nadal was very much full of praise come the end of match of his opponent Thiem. Per BBC Sport, Nadal believes that the 23-year-old Austrian will be a big name in tennis for years to come.

"The truth is I was up against an opponent who, in the next five to ten years, will be fighting for the most important titles, so I'm very happy to have won," claimed a jubilant Nadal.

The Spaniard, 30, added: "It was a very exciting game.

"It was a very important final for both of us, for him as it was the first in the Masters 1000, and for me it's always special to play here in Madrid, in this unique tournament.

"You never know when it might be the last, so I always try to enjoy it," concluded Nadal.

Nadal is up to #4

In what was a tense first set, Nadal eventually got the better of Thiem in the tie-break. Though come the second set, it was a lot more straight forward for the Spaniard as he broke his opponent early on to move in to a comfortable lead.

Success in Madrid now means that Nadal has been confirmed as the new world number four in a result which sees fellow great, Roger Federer, move out of the top four rankings.

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