Spain’s Rafael Nadal struck a telling psychological blow a week before the French Open by beating World No. 1 Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters on Sunday.
The Spaniard claimed the only Masters Series event on clay to have eluded him by ousting the Swiss top seed 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3 to give him the perfect preparation for the defence of his Roland Garros crown in Paris.
Federer, the defending champion who ended Nadal’s 81-match unbeaten run on clay in last year’s Hamburg final, began the match strongly, opening up a 5-1 lead and twice serving for the set.
But Nadal refused to lie down and reeled off the next six games to take the first set and then broke the Federer serve in the opening game of the second.
The Swiss broke back twice and missed a chance to level the match serving at 5-3 but upped his game in the tie-break, winning it 7-3.
Nadal got the crucial break in the fourth game of the deciding set and closed out the match with a whipped crosscourt backhand winner after just under three hours of play