Rafael Nadal breezed to his 34th straight win on clay on Sunday, trouncing Gaston Gaudio 6-3 6-3 6-4 in the final of the Mercedes Cup.

The top-seeded Nadal notched his eighth title of the season, all on clay, where he is a virtually unbeatable 49-2.

The 19-year-old Spaniard did not lose a set in this tournament and thoroughly outclassed Gaudio in a match-up of the last two French Open champions.

Sunday's final was a best-of-five affair between the top clay court players in the world this year, but Nadal turned it into a formality.

The stylish left-hander improved to 2-3 all-time vs Gaudio, including 2-1 this year.

In five matches here, Nadal dropped more than three games in a set just twice, losing five in the final set of Saturday's semi-final win over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and four in the last set vs Gaudio, the third seed from Argentina.

The 2004 French Open champion, Gaudio advanced when second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia retired during the second set of their semi-final due to illness.

He has won four titles this year, all on clay.

Gaudio also lost in the final here in 2000 and 2004.