Federer sees off weary Nadal

 

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

Swiss ace Federer, who going into the match had 57 career titles to his name but was without a tournament success since winning on home soil in Basle last October, took the victory 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 26 minutes.

The win also ended a remarkable run of success on clay for top seed Nadal, who was unable to repeat his heroics from Saturday’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 Spanish superstar had won 150 of 154 matches on dirt since 2005.

That astonishing record was not to help the Mallorca-born 22-year-old though as second seed Federer took the game to his opponent to beat Nadal for only the second time in 10 meetings on clay and end his wait for a title.

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