Clay king Rafa Nadal sent another reminder he is not about to surrender his Roland Garros crown without a fight when he crushed Swiss 15th seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2 6-4 to win the Madrid Open yesterday.

It was the Spanish world number five’s fifth title since he returned from a seven-month injury lay-off in February and was more evidence that his troublesome knees are not about to bring his career to a premature end.

Nadal now heads to Rome, where he beat world number one Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, for another Masters event on his favoured surface before the French Open starts at the end of this month.

“Maybe this win is even more special given where I have come back from,” Nadal, a seven-times French Open champion, said.

“Playing in Madrid is always very exciting for me and the tournament couldn’t have worked out better.”

Wawrinka, who came through gruelling matches against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych on the way to his second Masters final, never looked like claiming a first win against Nadal at the ninth attempt.

Serena subdues Sharapova

In the women’s final, world number one Serena Williams racked up the 50th title of her illustrious 18-year career when she thumped Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-4 to defend her Madrid Open crown.

Williams’ victory, her fourth tournament success of 2013 and only the seventh on clay since she turned pro in 1995, prevented Sharapova from leapfrogging her to the top of the rankings.

“It’s not the ultimate title, but it’s a good start in the right direction,” Williams, who was upset by Virginie Razzano in the first round of last year’s French Open, said.