Rafael Nadal took another huge step closer to dethroning Roger Federer as world number one with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Nicolas Kiefer in the Toronto Masters final on Sunday. With his 29th consecutive victory - his last loss came in Rome in May in the second round to Juan Carlos Ferrero - the Spanish world number two has climbed to within 300 points of Federer, who crashed out in his opening match. The Spanish phenomenon has now claimed 30 career titles, making him third-youngest in the game after Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors to achieve the mark. “I'll think about the record when my career is over,” said the 22-year-old. “Right now, my most important goal was to win Toronto.” Nadal's victory marked his second trophy in Canada after taking the title in Montreal three years ago. He has now won his last five events, including Queen's and Wimbledon on grass. The ranking race will tighten next week in Cincinnati, where Federer has been training since his mid-week upset loss here to Frenchman Gilles Simon, whom Kiefer put out in the semifinals. Federer has held the top spot for more than four years but could be deposed in Cincinnati if he were to lose his opening match and Nadal was to lift the trophy, according to ATP calculations. Nadal has been No. 2 since July 2005. Nadal has now won seven titles this season and has racked up 61 match wins against just seven losses. Since May, Nadal has in succession collected the titles of the Hamburg Masters, his fourth French Open, his first at Queen's Club, and his first at Wimbledon in an epic final win over Federer. In the semifinals, Nadal beat Andy Murray 7-6 (2), 6-3 and Kiefer recorded a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over France's Gilles Simon. “I played against Andy very good because he – my opinion – played one of his best matches against me,” Nadal said. An uncharacteristically aggressive Murray went shot for shot with Nadal in the first set, during which both players held serve. It wasn't until the tiebreaker that he flinched. Down 2-6, Murray double-faulted on set point. He still came out strong in the second set. It took 18 points for Nadal to hold serve in the first game, and when Nadal broke Murray in the fourth game, the gangly Scotsman broke back in the fifth. But Nadal wore him down. Murray wound up with 40 unforced errors to Nadal's 16, and lost despite firing 14 more winners than Nadal. Errani bags title Sara Errani of Italy won her second title in three weeks when she beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-3, 6-3 in the Slovenia Open final on Sunday. Eighth-seeded Errani won her first career WTA Tour event at Palermo at the beginning of July. Safina stuns Jankovic Dinara Safina stopped Jelena Jankovic's quest to take the world's No.1 ranking and swept into the final of the East West Bank Classic with a straight-set victory Saturday. The Russian won 7-6 (3), 6-1 to set up a final against Italian Flavia Pennetta, who was a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 winner over unseeded American Bethanie Mattek in the other semifinal. “It was another great match,” said Safina, who let a 4-2 lead get away in the first set but won five of the final six points in the tiebreaker and dominated the second set. “I stayed aggressive and didn't let down.” Jankovic would have taken the No. 1 ranking from Serb compatriot Ana Ivanovic had she won this tournament.
