Rafael Nadal maintained his clay-court dominance over World number one Roger Federer with a 7-5 7-5 win in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Victory in an hour and 43 minutes gave the Spanish World number two a fourth consecutive title in the Principality.
The Spaniard has now won 22 consecutive matches at Monte Carlo since losing to Guillermo Coria in the third round five years ago. Federer was the last man to take a set from him in the 2006 final.
Nadal has also beaten Federer three times in the Monte Carlo final, improving his clay-court record over the Swiss to 7-1. He also has a career record of 9-6 against the 12-time Grand Slam champion.
Commanding
Federer threw away commanding positions in each set, breaking Nadal to lead 4-3 in the first and then going ahead 4-0 lead in the second.
But the five-time Wimbledon champion committed too many unforced errors, mostly on his forehand, to let Nadal back into the match and that ultimately proved costly.
Having seen Nadal recover to 3-4, Federer crumbled in the eighth game when he hit four consecutive unforced errors to lose his serve to love. In all he made 44 unforced cerrors.
For a second straight year, Nadal did not drop a set on his way to the title.
Unthinkable
"It's unthinkable, winning here for the fourth year in a row," Nadal told a courtside interviewer.
Federer, who has struggled for form all season and only won his first title of the year in Estoril last week, admitted: "He's a tough player on clay. Maybe my attacking game did not work so well.
"I'm still close (to beating him). It's not getting much easier but I am right there and it's a good thing."
The Swiss suffered from mononucleosis earlier this year and added: "I am coming back strong and am happy the way things are now. A few weeks ago I was still in a bit of doubt."