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| July 11, 2005 | Monday | Jumadi-us-Sani 3, 1426 |
Nadal becomes first man to lift 7th crown on clay
BASTAD (Sweden), July 10: Rafael Nadal overcame a shaky start to beat Czech Tomas Berdych 2-6 6-2 6-4 in the Swedish Open final on Sunday and win his seventh title of the year.
The 19-year-old took his remarkable claycourt winning streak to 29 and became the first man to win seven titles on clay in one season since Thomas Muster in 1996.
The Mallorcan has not lost on the surface since Valencia in April when eventual champion Igor Andreev beat him in the quarterfinals. His claycourt tally this year is 43-2.
Nadal looked nothing like the French Open champion in the first set with Berdych breaking his serve three times.
Using his 1.93 metre height to cope with Nadal’s heavy topspin shots, the Czech fired winners past the Spaniard on both sides and kept many rallies short with his booming serve.
Nadal found his groove and overran the Czech in the second set to take the match into a thrilling decider where he proved stronger than Bercych, breaking him to 3-2 and serving out to love for 4-2.
Berdych fought back bravely but failed to convert a break point when Nadal served for the match at 5-4 and the Spaniard sealed victory on his first match point.
Gaudio grabs title
GSTAAD (Switzerland): Argentine Gaston Gaudio clinched his fourth title of the season on Sunday after seeing off local favourite Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 6-4 in the final of the Swiss Open.
The 26-year-old second seed needed just one hour and 42 minutes to complete victory over the 20-year-old Swiss newcomer.
Playing in his first tour final, Wawrinka managed to trouble Gaudio with his powerful serve, firing in 13 aces to the Argentine’s one.
Newport results
Semifinal results:
Greg Rusedski (Britain) bt Wesley Moodie (South Africa) 7-6(2) 6-4; Vince Spadea (United States) bt Paul Goldstein (United States) 7-6(6) 6-2
Quarterfinal: Greg Rusedski (Britain) bt Antony Dupuis (France) 7-6(3) 6-4; Wesley Moodie (South Africa) bt Michal Mertinak (Slovakia) 6-4 6-3.—Agencies
