Nadal wins 2008 Hamburg Masters

Rafael Nadal is the 2008 Hamburg Masters champion. The world’s top clay court player once again demonstrated his dominance on the surface yesterday, defeating Roger Federer in a tough three set encounter.

Nadal almost lost the first set, before engineering one of his trademark comebacks that saw him clinch the opener 7-5. Federer was made to fight all the way for the second set, which he eventually claimed 7-6 after being forced into a tie-break.

Federer had no answer to Nadal in the final set, as the Spanish player powered into a 4-1 lead. Federer was unable to break the Spaniard’s serve and conceded defeat four games later, losing the match 7-5, 6-7, 6-3.

The result saw Nadal clinch the only major clay court tournament to have eluded him during his career. Nadal also improved his record against Federer. The Spaniard has won 10 of the encounters between the two top ranked players, while Federer has prevailed on another 6 occasions.

Nadal’s win at the 2008 Hamburg Masters final will be a major setback for Roger Federer’s hopes of winning his first French Open. The world number one has had a tough time in the run-up to the tournament, having claimed only one ATP title so far this year – the Estoril Open in Portugal.