Japan's Kei Nishikori failed to grab his first career masters championship on Sunday, losing the Monte-Carlo Masters final 6-3, 6-2 to Rafael Nadal.

For world No. 1 Nadal, however, the victory was historic. The Spaniard's 31st career Masters 1000 tournament moved him out of a tie with Novak Djokovic for the most in history.

(Getty/Kyodo)

Nishikori, ranked 36th in the world, earned the match's first break but the Spanish master broke back in a flawless first set and had little trouble after that. Making few errors and delivering his shots with confidence, Nishikori appeared to rush and began giving away points on errors.

Although Nishikori produced some scintillating tennis, Nadal simply plowed forward with confidence and determination.

While Nishikori was the first Asian to compete in the Monte-Carlo final, Nadal entered his second career masters final against the Japanese having won here a record 10 times. Although Nishikori beat Nadal to win an Olympic bronze medal two years ago in Rio de Janeiro, the Spaniard improved to 10-2 in his career against the Japanese.

Nadal also extended his streak of consecutive set wins on clay to 36.