• Madrid Masters

Nadal completes magnificent clay-court hat-trick

May 16, 2010

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Rafael Nadal became the most prolific ATP Masters title winner in ATP Tour history with a terrific 6-4 7-6(5) win over world No. 1 and defending champion Roger Federer.

The Spaniard moved one win ahead of Andre Agassi with his 18th Masters title and is red-hot favorite to claim his fifth French Open title at Roland Garros after another dominant showing on the red dust. The win also makes the 23-year-old the first man to win all three clay-court Masters titles in one season, after claiming the Monte Carlo and Rome Masters events earlier on the year.

Nadal, who has now won 168 of 174 matches on clay since 2005, was at his very best as he suffocated Federer's serve with several deep returns and chased down a number of fine approaches by his opponent to unleash a string of unlikely winners. Despite the magnitude of his win and continued dominance on clay, a modest Nadal was full of praise for his opponent.

"Roger is having a great season and won at the Australian Open but sorry for today," Nadal said. "Congratulations on a great career - you are amazing.

"Thankyou everyone for coming out and supporting me and a great tournament. You make it great to win."

In the first match between the pair since last year's final in Madrid - which Federer won - both players began tentatively and dropped serve early in the opening set. Nadal, the No. 2 seed, settled the quicker though and found the vital break to lead 4-3. Federer had chances to break back but seemed uncharacteristically cautious when faced with the chance to hit the corners.

A humbled Federer refused to be too downbeat after being given the run around by his opponent, inisisting the week had been a positive one despite not regaining his title. "It has been a great tournament for me even though I wasn't able to defend my title here," Federer said. "Rafa played incredibly today and after only facing him once in the last year he was awesome.

"It has been a great run for me. I am not Spanish but the crowd have been great and I have tried to play some good clay-court tennis."

The home favourite, who is set to return to No. 2 two in the world rankings courtesy of his win, saw out his remaining service games to claim the first set and continued his form into the second as he broke Federer in the first game.

However, the top seed broke back immediately to level the scores at 1-1. The pair exchanged further breaks but failed to make any more dents on their opponents' serve as the set went to a tie-break. Federer surged into a 4-2 lead but failed to find a first serve to backup his advantage. Nada took full advantage and hit back with four straight points before securing the set and match as Federer played a fresh-air forehand following an uneven bounce. In claiming the 39th title of his career, Nadal also completed his 14th win over his Swiss rival in their 21 previous meetings.

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