Roger Federer beat the Top No. 1 player Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Open, finishing a five-match losing streak against the Spaniard; this was just the second victory of Federer over Nadal on clay surface, the first one was two years ago at Hamburg.
The first victory of the year for Federer was very satisfying according to him, especially on a match where he won 6-4, 6-4 in just two sets. The day before Nadal played a four-hour match against Djokovic that gave him the chance to be on the final against Federer.
This happened just one week before the French Open at Roland Garros starts, which is Federer's biggest goal since it is the only major tournament that he has not win on his entire professional tennis career.
On the other hand, the four-year defending champion Rafael Nadal was a little disappointed about the result and expressed that there was nothing to say about the way he played, it was very simple since Federer was better than him the complete match. Federer ended the winning streak of 33 matches on clay that Nadal had, but even so the Spaniard will be going to give it all at the French Open to try to clinch his fifth consecutive title, and he is planning to face it one step at a time.
"Federer has the potential to win at Paris and at any site in the world. He's showed that throughout his career. But Paris begins with the first round, not the final," Nadal said. "If I was told now that I can play the final against him, show me the paper and I'll sign."
Federer also said that everything is going back on track again for him since he has not yet won a major tournament this year. The Swiss is very excited about going to Paris where the surface is clay, and even though it is not his strongest point, he has demonstrated through his career that he's a great player on any surface; in fact, he has become the only one capable to beat Nadal on clay, who is considered the best player in that surface right now.
At the first set of the game, Federer managed to save two break points before his own break at the ninth game. Then in the second set he broke Nadal's serve in the fifth game after a long hit and went 3-2. Later, on the last game Nadal had another break chance that put the 12.500 spectators that waited for the Spaniard to take the victory at the edge of their seats and shouting for him, but his backhand hit went wide and Federer closed the match with an ace to "spoil the party" for the Spanish crowd, as he joked when receiving the title.
Nadal was not on his best shape for the final. The four-hour match against Djokovic in the semifinals the day before left him very tired and that may have had some negative effect on his game on Sunday, but at the end of the day, the tournament went for Federer. Now, we will have to wait and see how this great rivalry evolves at the upcoming Roland Garros Grand Slam.
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