Tennis
Nadal marvels at clay success as he heads for Hamburg
By Bill Scott
May 14, 2006, 23:45 GMT

Rome - Rafael Nadal booked a place in the record books Sunday as he denied Roger Federer a trophy at the 2.08-million-euro Rome Masters to pull level alongside Guillermo Vilas with the longest clay win streak in the sport.

The 19-year-old phenomenon lifted his 53rd consecutive victory on the surface in five hours, six minutes in a classic 6-7 (0-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) struggle against his world number 1 rival.

'Fifty-three is a lot of matches,' marvelled the winner. 'I really thought that this would be the week that I would lose. But I've been lucky this year - I won.'

The victory gave Nadal career domination of the Swiss with five wins in six matches. Federer's defeats this season - including February's Dubai final and last month in the Monte Carlo title match - have all come against the Spaniard.

'Today was a very emotional match,' said the teenager, who was flying straight to Hamburg for the Masters starting Monday.

'It was a different player, not the one from Monte Carlo. He's changed and played very well with his backhand.

'It was more difficult for me to play him here. This is my sixth masters title. It's just unbelievable for me.'

It was Nadal's fourth straight victory over Federer, who was playing in his own 13th consecutive final. Federer has now lost four of those finals, including Dubai and Monte Carlo plus the Masters Cup in Shanghai to David Nalbandian.

'It was a huge battle, and I had my chances to win,' said the beaten Swiss.

'I did everything that I could, but it wasn't quite enough. The clay ambience is all around at this time of the season. It's good to be thinking about Roland Garros and to be excited about playing there.'

Nadal, who refuses to publicly admit that he has the Swiss star's number on clay, insists that Federer as world number 1 is still the best in the sport.

'I'm very content. This was a fantastic win,' said Nadal, who will defend his French Open title from a position of strength starting in a fortnight.

'I'm happy to have won a second title. But Roger is a great player. He's been the finalist at Monte Carlo, finalist at Rome and three times a Hamburg champion on clay. I think it will be easier for him to win Roland Garros than for me to win Wimbledon.'

The match ended only eight minutes short of the record 5:14 it took a year ago for Nadal to lift his first Rome crown over Guillermo Coria.

Federer started strong as he won the 70-minute opening set in a tiebreak and saved a set point in the second before Nadal got into gear with a successful tiebreak of his own.

The second-ranked Spaniard nosed ahead by winning the third set before Federer swept the fourth.

The Swiss lead 4-1 in the final set but missed two agonizing match points - forehand errors - in the 12th game of the fifth.

Even in the ensuing tiebreak, Federer had more opportunities. But once he let go of a 3-1 lead, there was no stopping the excited Nadal, who clinched victory and his place in the clay record books on first match point - Federer's 89th unforced error.

Nadal now stands a perfect 17-0 on clay in 2006, having defended three titles from last season.

Nadal has now won his last 12 finals since losing to Federer in five sets in the final in March 2005 in Miami. His last loss on clay came 13 months ago in Valencia.