Nadal looks like reaching Roland Garros with a running start after playing four events in the five weeks which lead to the May 27 kick-off of the clay-court test.

The undisputed king of clay has extended his unbeaten run on the surface to 77 matches, his last loss coming in April, 2005, in Valencia to Russian Igor Andreev.

During that massive span, Nadal, winner of the last two editions of Roland Garros, has lifted 13 titles.

If his fitness holds up, the world number two and his uncle-coach Toni will look like master planners, with the 20-year-old having lifted titles at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and the Foro Italico this spring.

He joins Austrian Thomas Muster with three trophies at the Foro Italico but becomes the first to win his three in a row.

Nadal remains undefeated in Rome with 17 straight wins after triumphing in his 16th consecutive clay-court final for a flawless undefeated record in that category.

The title was the fourth of the season for Nadal, who also won Indian Wells, Monte Carlo and Barcelona.

But the Spaniard admitted that his exertions over three and a half hours in winning a marathon semifinal against Nikolay Davydenko did colour his preparation.

"Normally I have one hour of practise but today I had 15-20 minutes," he said. "I was a little bit tired, but prepared. I didn't know how I would feel in the match, but I tried to come in with the best chances.

"I tried to play with the big concentration. My special goal today was playing a little bit more aggressive than yesterday."

The winner accomplished that as Gonzalez struck 31 unforced errors and lost serve five times.

The Chilean saw his 3-1 career lead over the young hotshot start to slide after going down in just under 90 minutes.

The trademark hard-hitter who lost the Australian Open final to Roger Federer admits that he was outplayed, but added that the Nadal superiority may have a downside.

"It's boring if he's winning every clay-court tournament," said the number six who has won two of his last three trophies on surfaces other than red clay.

"But he's tough because he's in good shape and he can be hours playing there," said the Chilean. "Today I tried to go for it, tried to win the match. I cannot wait on this kind of surface."