MADRID, (Reuters) – Roger Federer inflicted a rare claycourt defeat on his great rival Rafael Nadal yesterday 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.
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.
Meanwhile, world number one Dinara Safina swept to her second claycourt title in as many weeks with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki in the Madrid Open women’s final yesterday.
Ninth seed Wozniacki missed a chance to break serve in the second game and Safina found her range in the sunshine in the new Magic Box stadium to open a 5-1 lead before serving out the set.
The Dane committed far too many unforced errors and the winners flowed for Safina and she broke again at the start of the second.
Wozniacki tried to mix up her game with some looping shots to the baseline and had chances to break in the eighth game but Safina held firm.
She missed one championship point on the Dane’s serve but made no mistake on her second when serving for the match to clinch an 11th career title.
