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Federer stuns clay king Nadal in Madrid final

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-18 10:22

MADRID - Roger Federer inflicted a rare claycourt defeat on his great rival Rafael Nadal on Sunday when he stunned the world number one 6-4, 6-4 in the Madrid Open final to win his first title of the season.

Nadal was bidding to become the first man to win all three clay Masters events in one year after his victories in Monte Carlo and Rome but slipped to only his fifth loss on his favoured surface in 155 matches since 2005.

Spain's Rafael Nadal (L) talks to Switzerland's Roger Federer as they pose with their second and first place trophies at the end of their final match at the Madrid Open tennis tournament May 17, 2009. [Agencies]

Federer has lost to Nadal in the final of the French Open the past three years and his victory on Sunday will boost the Swiss world number two's hopes he can win a 14th grand slam singles title at Roland Garros starting later this month.

"Maybe a couple of weeks ago I was still a little bit unsure about my game and not sure whether I could win the French and now that's changed," Federer told a news conference.

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Nadal had come through the longest three-set match in a Masters Series event on Saturday, saving three match points and taking more than four hours to beat Novak Djokovic, but he started brightly in the new Magic Box stadium.

Federer had to fend off break points in the second and sixth games of the first set but then grabbed a crucial break in game nine before serving out the set to love.

A delicate drop shot that even the athletic Spaniard could not chase down gave him another opportunity in the fifth game of the second set and Nadal netted a backhand to fall 3-2 behind.

The Swiss slipped to 15-40 when serving for the match but fought back to deuce and powered an ace down the middle on his second championship point before raising his arms in triumph.

BAD LOSSES

"I thought I took all the right decisions today and in the end it looked pretty comfortable so it was a perfect win for me," said Federer.

"I'm very, very happy that I stayed positive and I got the win I needed badly because I've had some rather bad losses this year," he added. "It's very satisfying."

Nadal said the faster conditions in the higher altitude of the Spanish capital had suited Federer's game and acknowledged that Saturday's epic semifinal had sapped his strength.

"Always it's better to have a match that lasts one-and-a-half hours the day before than four hours," he told a news conference.

"But that's sport and some days it happens to one and another time to someone else. Roger today did really well. He played amazing around the court and was really fast.

"I can just congratulate him. I didn't play my best tennis but he played much better than me."

Federer and Nadal have played 20 times going back to the Miami Masters in 2004 and the Swiss had won only one match on clay against the Spaniard in 10 previous attempts, the final of the Hamburg Masters in 2007.

They have now faced each other in 16 finals, with Nadal winning 11, including three Roland Garros crowns and titles at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.