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Rogers Cup: Nadal, Serena triumph in Montreal

Rafael Nadal thumped Canada's Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the men's Rogers Cup on Sunday to capture his eighth ATP title this season and boost his confidence ahead of the US Open, starting later this month.

In the final of the women's title, Serena Williams crushed Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-0 to capture her 54th WTA singles title.

Playing in his first tournament since his shock opening-round loss at Wimbledon, Nadal showed he was back to near his best and his ailing body was ready for the gruelling demands of the North American hardcourt season.

Less than 24 hours after his hard-fought semi-final win over Novak Djokovic on Saturday, Nadal easily beat the dangerous Raonic in just over an hour, playing with all the conviction and freedom of a man near the peak of his powers.

Nadal was ruthless from the outset and never allowed Raonic to settle his nerves in front of a partisan capacity crowd in Montreal.

Nadal's third win at Rogers Cup

"To win here, I had to be playing my top level," Nadal told reporters.

"I'm very happy the way that I played almost every match in this tournament. It's very important for me, this title."

Sunday's victory provided Nadal with his third win at the Rogers Cup and his 25th career Masters title and the Spaniard will rise to three in the world rankings when they are released on Monday.

Raonic will move into the top 10 for the first time after becoming the first Canadian man in more than half a century to reach the Rogers Cup final.

Serena Williams crushes Sorana Cirstea

Williams completely overwhelmed her unseeded opponent to cruise to a one-sided victory in just over an hour and claim the Rogers Cup for the third time.

It was the World No 1’s eighth title this year and put her outright fifth on the all-time list of tournament winners after she had been tied with Monica Seles.

Only Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport have won more WTA singles titles than Williams.

'I didn't want to be another casualty'

"There's a lot of pressure and nothing is guaranteed but I'm happy to do well," Williams said during the on court trophy presentation ceremony.

Cirstea had defied the odds just to make her third WTA final. The 23-year-old beat two former world number ones and two grand slam champions to reach the decider but found Williams too much to overcome.

"I know she is capable of winning big matches," Williams said. "She's had some big upsets in this tournament and I didn't want to be another casualty."

The American broke Cirstea's opening service game in the second set with a gorgeous drop shot while the Romanian struggled just to get a read on her opponent's serve.

"Thanks to my team for not running away," she said. "I know I'm not easy".