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Serena Williams kept the No. 1, and added No. 50.

Williams beat Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Madrid Open Sunday to both retain her No. 1 ranking and collect her 50th career title. The second-ranked Russian would have overtaken the top spot with a win, but Williams stormed out to an early lead as Sharapova struggled with her serve.

Sharapova briefly recovered her poise in the second set, but Williams' form never dipped as she eased to the title.

"It feels good," Williams said about reaching her 50th title. "I don't know how many more I can win. Who knows if I will ever win another title? I just want to live the dream. Hopefully I can keep it going.

"When you first start out everything is so exciting. Now I expect to win."

Williams improved her record against Sharapova to 13-2, with her only two losses coming in 2004.

Later, local favorite Rafael Nadal earned his fifth title of the year since returning from a left knee injury when he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-2, 6-4 in the men's final.

The 31-year-old Williams, playing in her first red clay final since 2002, dominated Sharapova from the start as the Russian never managed to steady her erratic serve.

"I started the match really slow and against an opponent like her you can't give her that," said Sharapova, who had won her previous seven red-clay finals. "I wasn't reacting well. I wasn't moving well. Not only the double faults I made, I didn't have a lot of great first serves in. She was really stepping up."

Sharapova committed five double faults in her first three service games, dropping the first two as Williams eased to a one-set lead. Her shaky serve let Williams gear up and land several winning shots before closing out the first set with a floating return that clipped the line.

Sharapova earned and converted her first break point to open the second set, opening up a 3-1 advantage.

But the former No. 1-ranked player's serve again betrayed her as she hit another double fault to cede back her break after Williams had set up three break points with her precise groundstrokes.

Williams closed out the final after Sharapova recorded her eighth and final double fault before hitting the ball long to give up her fifth service game.

Last year, Williams won here on the experimental blue clay surface that was removed after complaints from players that it was too slick.

Williams said the move back to red clay meant the tournament was a good warm-up for the French Open starting at the end of the month.

"This court is definitely different," she said. "It plays like Roland Garros and that is a plus. So I think it is great preparation."