Federer revels in Madrid triumph

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:29

Going into the match, Swiss ace Federer had won 57 career titles, including 13 grand slam crowns, but was without a tournament success since winning on home soil in Basle last October. However, that barren spell came to an end as Federer took the attack to Spanish superstar Nadal before recording a 6-4 6-4 victory in one hour and 26 minutes.

“I served well, mixed it up well and took all the right decisions. In the end it looked quite comfortable out there for me, so it was a perfect win for me. I’m very satisfied,” said Federer, who agonisingly lost in five sets to Nadal in the final of the Australian Open earlier this year.

“I’ve had some bad losses this year in terms of the way I’ve played but I’ve felt this win has been coming for a few weeks so I am very pleased,” added the Swiss.

Federer’s triumph also ended a remarkable run of success on clay for top seed Nadal, who was unable to repeat his heroics from last night’s semi-final against Novak Djokovic when he fought back from the brink to win a gruelling battle 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (11/9) in four hours and three minutes, saving three match points along the way.

That victory over Djokovic was Nadal’s 33rd successive win on clay stretching back over a year, while in total the Majorcan had won 150 of 154 matches on dirt since 2005.

That astonishing record was not to help the 22-year-old though as second seed Federer defeated him for only the second time in 10 meetings on clay and ended his wait for a title.

Nadal, who will go in search of his fifth successive French Open crown starting next Sunday, insisted his marathon match against Djokovic had not affected his performance.

“Playing four hours was not a problem,” he said. “Roger was much better than me and deserved to win.”

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