Rafael Nadal avenged his loss to Roger Federer in last year’s Madrid final with a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory Sunday. The win at the Madrid Masters gave Nadal a record-setting 18th Masters 1000 title, overtaking Andre Agassi. In a tight match played in front of Spanish royalty, Federer let go of a 4-2 lead in the tiebreaker and whiffed at a forehand on match point, apparently because of a bad bounce.
Nadal ran his record against Federer to 14-7, which includes a 10-2 mark on clay. Nadal also became the first player to win all three ATP Masters 1000 clay-court tournaments in the same year, having also won Monte Carlo and Rome. Nadal will enter Roland Garros as the No. 2 ranked player, behind defending champion Federer.—M.C.