If there were any creeping doubts about Rafael Nadal's ability to deal with Andy Murray's game, the Spaniard's demolition job in the difficult conditions at Indian Wells should put those doubts to rest.

Defeated by Murray in their last two meetings, including in the final in Rotterdam just five weeks earlier, Nadal clearly handled the windy conditions much better than his opponent. The world number one won in straight sets (6-1, 6-2) to claim his second Indian Wells title, two years after winning it for the first time.

"I played a really good match with those conditions," Nadal said after the match, as quoted by AFP. "Probably Andy didn't play his best because of the conditions, but I think I played a really complete match, moving very well. I never stop the legs during all the match, and I think that was the key today."

The gusts of wind never abated during the match, bringing dirt from outside to disrupt service and cross-court exchanges, turning precise down-the-line shots into massive errors.

"When there is a lot of wind, the important thing is you don’t have to find the shots close to the line. Put balls in play. Maybe not in the middle but not close to the sides. Moving very well, keeping the legs moving, that was the key," Nadal said.

The strategy clearly worked, as Murray, who beat Roger Federer to book his place in the final, was swept aside in just one hour and 20 minutes.

"Rafa dealt with it very well," Murray said. "He hit the ball cleaner and seemed to get himself in better positions than I did. You don't necessarily want to be doing a whole lot of defending and running. You want to be in the best position possible to hit each ball, and I wasn't."

With defending champion Novak Djokovic losing in the quarterfinals and Murray improving over his fourth-round exit at Indian Wells last year, the Briton has made up more than two thirds of the gap to world number three Djokovic.

With Murray starting the year strongly - he has won the titles in Doha and Rotterdam - a strong performance at the Miami Masters, which starts on March 23, could put him past the Serbian and ever closer to Roger Federer, a man Murray loves to beat, but matching Nadal on current form might be just about impossible.