Rafael Nadal warmed up for his French Open title defense in style when he dethroned a demoralized Roger Federer as Hamburg Masters champion, winning the final 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 on Sunday.
In a rematch of last year’s title clash, which was won by Federer, triple Roland Garros champion Nadal showed a determined fighting spirit with a superb array of shots to claim victory after 2 hours, 52 minutes.
It was the Spaniard’s 10th win over Federer — his eighth on clay. It also ended the Swiss world No. 1’s 41-match unbeaten run on German soil.
The pair had contrasting fortunes coming into the final.
Having not dropped a set all tournament, Federer needed just over an hour to see off unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-1 in Saturday’s semi-final.
By contrast, Nadal fought an epic three-set battle over three hours in his semi-final against Novak Djokovic, the champion on Rome’s clay last week.
After breaking Nadal in only the second game of the first set, Federer was in total control and broke again to take a commanding lead at 5-1.
Nadal then called for the physio to look at a troublesome hamstring and it looked like it was all over with barely 30 minutes played.
Federer then twice served for the first set, but Nadal’s defense held and he stunned the Swiss star by breaking the world No. 1 three times with some excellent line shots to serve out for the first set 7-5 after exactly an hour.
At the start of the second, Federer was broken again, but responded in kind by breaking back the Spaniard twice with a serve and volley game and then resumed control to serve out to a 4-1 lead.
The game took another twist with Federer leading the second set 5-2, as Nadal rallied again to level the set at 5-5 as the set went to a tie-break. Nadal took a 2-0 lead in the tie-break, only to see Federer roar back to win the second set breaker 7-3 and level the final.
But in the deciding set, Nadal held his nerve after charging into a 4-1 lead, before Federer trimmed him back to 5-3, but the Spaniard served it out and roared his joy at gaining revenge for his defeat in last year’s final.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946