HAMBURG: Roger Federer produced an astonishing turn-around to beat Rafael Nadal for the first time on clay courts in the final of the Hamburg Masters on Sunday.
The triple Grand Slam title-holder's 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over the French Open champion underlined his belief that he has a chance of winning in Paris in three weeks time and becoming the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time.
It was Nadal's first loss on clay in more than two years and ended his record-breaking 81-match winning streak on this surface.
But it required an amazing twist for it to come about. For an hour of the match Federer, whose form has been in a slump, looked a beaten man.
He was quickly behind, and after being outplayed in the first set, was almost a break of serve down in the second. But after averting the crisis, Federer's level went up so far so fast that he took eleven of the next 12 games and the match.
It suggested that for Federer, who admitted to having been affected by his decision to part with coach Tony Roche last weekend, the match was played as much with the emotions as with the risk-taking brilliance of his tennis.
Federer nevertheless made a discouraging start. He could only get five first serves in during an opening service game of 14 points, and in his second service game he was broken.
The world's most fluently versatile all-court player played all but one of these rallies from the back, almost certainly a legacy of this game's opening point in which Federer was beaten at the net by a sensational flat pass down the line from Nadal.
Source : DNA
The triple Grand Slam title-holder's 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over the French Open champion underlined his belief that he has a chance of winning in Paris in three weeks time and becoming the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time.
It was Nadal's first loss on clay in more than two years and ended his record-breaking 81-match winning streak on this surface.
But it required an amazing twist for it to come about. For an hour of the match Federer, whose form has been in a slump, looked a beaten man.
He was quickly behind, and after being outplayed in the first set, was almost a break of serve down in the second. But after averting the crisis, Federer's level went up so far so fast that he took eleven of the next 12 games and the match.
It suggested that for Federer, who admitted to having been affected by his decision to part with coach Tony Roche last weekend, the match was played as much with the emotions as with the risk-taking brilliance of his tennis.
Federer nevertheless made a discouraging start. He could only get five first serves in during an opening service game of 14 points, and in his second service game he was broken.
The world's most fluently versatile all-court player played all but one of these rallies from the back, almost certainly a legacy of this game's opening point in which Federer was beaten at the net by a sensational flat pass down the line from Nadal.
Source : DNA