Tommy Robredo, so often the forgotten man amongst the bevy of great Spanish players, at last emerged from the shadows to win a major title here on Sunday.
The eighth seed from Barcelona captured the title in his first Masters Series final in little more than two hours with a near flawless performance to beat Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
"I am so pleased to see my name up there among all the great players who have won this - I am very, very proud," said a jubilant Robredo.
When the climax came, he impulsively ripped off his shirt, parading his torso to the crowd and revolving a sweat band around his head like an out-of-control Catherine wheel.
"I started perfectly, but against a guy like Radek I knew it could be difficult. I knew that he would be attacking me and I told myself to expect this," added the world number 12.
"So I wanted to remain concentrated throughout the whole match, and I think I did that."
For Stepanek it was his second disappointment in a Masters Series final, whose girlfriend Martina Hingis was due to play in the Rome Masters final later in the day.
But it was no surprise, because right from the start it was evident that by trying to match Robredo from the baseline Stepanek would suffer a slow death, while if he risked coming to the net, he might win more games but would be unable to prevent Robredo from making match-winning passes.
"I have to congratulate Tommy," said Stepanek. "I knew I had to attack against Tommy but he was passing me from everywhere. "He was playing high top-spins which were landing most of the time on the line.
"But I have to be positive. It is my second Masters final and it has been a great week for me," added the world number 16, who may pull out of next week's world team Cup in Dusseldorf.
Stepanek was in trouble as early as the fourth game. He went 0-40 down on his serve, and although he fought back, there followed five long-drawn out deuces before he was broken.
When Robredo finally took it, it became clear that his well-grooved and patient ground strokes were going to be the major force in the match. It was also evident that Stepanek, who had never beaten the Spaniard in three attempts, did not feel he could match him from the back of the court.
By the sixth game he was already coming forward far more often, serve-volleying and sometimes coming in as soon as possible after the first ground stroke.
But the frequency of these net attacks may have made them predictable. Robredo certainly did not seem discomfited by them, even though they broke up the base-lining rhythm he prefers.
He duly broke again for 5-1, anticipating the short angled volley which Stepanek made on break point, and scuttling up to push a well-balanced backhand pass down the line.
But worse was quickly to follow as the Czech was broken at the start of the second set. Stepanek was often powerless to find another pattern which would break up Robredo's, but he did work himself one glimmer of hope in the eighth game of the second set.
Robredo was serving at 4-3 and Stepanek chiselled out the chance of a break but The Spaniard hit two beautifully controlled forehand drives to maintain his advantage.
The final point of the second set underlined Stepanek's problem on the slow surface. He hit a decent serve and projected a near-perfect backhand volley parallel to the sideline, only for Robredo still to find time to scamper across and pass him.
In the third set, Stepanek had two brief chances to stop the tide which was accelerating against him, earning break points at 1-1 and 3-3, but he could convert neither and when he himself was broken at 4-3 with a pass down the line, the match was all but over.
Within three minutes, Robredo had closed out the match with a solid service game and began his joyous celebrations.
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