rafael-nadal-wins-hamburg-masters-2008_Hx5XF_59

It is sad news for the admirers of the Swiss grace, Roger Federer as he failed to conquer the King of Clay’, Rafael Nadal in the final of the Hamburg Masters. Roger was the defending Champion and the number one seed in the clay court tournament but that didn’t help him to defeat Nadal in the final despite coming off well initially. He led the first set 5-1 before Nadal started to do what he does best on such courts to eventually win the match 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-3.

It wasn’t a runaway win for Nadal as he had to struggle for 2hours and 52 minutes before clinching his first Hamburg Masters Title. Federer the only man probably that could have defeated him on clay has been defeated on 8 of their previous nine meetings on the toughest surface to play on. For Nadal it was a victory in a clay court tournament that he had never won.

This loss saw Federer eventually putting an end to his 41 matches’ winning spree on German Soil. The loss makes Nadal an absolute favorite to win at next months French Open but going by Federer’s stance, don’t just count him out as yet.

[Source]