Nadal powers to Toronto title

Rafael Nadal continued his surge towards the world number one spot with a straight-sets victory over Nicolas Kiefer in the final of the Rogers Cup today.

The 22-year-old Spaniard wasted little time as he stormed to a 6-3 6-2 triumph over his bewildered German opponent.

Nadal, second seed in Toronto and world number two behind Roger Federer, has now won 29 consecutive matches.

Nadal broke the 31-year-old's serve for the first time in the fifth game to go 3-2 up and did not look back as Kiefer served a double-fault to hand the Wimbledon champion the first set.

The second set was a similar story as Nadal, after coming through an epic fifth game to hold serve, broke Kiefer to go 4-2 ahead and had no intention of letting his opponent back in.

The Toronto title - Nadal's seventh of the season - moves the Mallorca-born star ever closer to ending Federer's reign of four and a half years at the top of the ATP rankings.