Rafael Nadal earned a commanding 6-2, 7-5 victory over fellow Spaniard David Ferrer on Sunday, winning a repeat of last year's final at the Barcelona Open for his 24th straight victory at the venue, dpa reported.

The world number one dropped his serve for the first time this week, once in the first set and twice in the second. But those minor annoyances could not distract Nadal from his mission in just under two hours.

The Spaniard has now won the last five editions at the Real club, backing up the five in a row he claimed seven days ago in Monte Carlo. He now heads to Rome where he went out last year in his opening match after lifting the previous three titles.

Nadal, from Mallorca, stands 24-1 in Barcelona after suffering his only loss at the tournament in 2003 as a teenager.

The top seed lifted the first set with an ace after 44 minutes, then overcame a bout of nerves on both sides of the net as the first four games of the second set went against the server.

Top seed Nadal broke for 6-5 and completed the victory for a 35th career title in the next game on the second of three match points.

He becomes the seventh consecutive Spaniard to triumph at the tournament as he won a repeat of last year's final over Ferrer.

He has now won 24 straight matches on clay going back to last May when he fell to countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round (after a bye) in Rome.