Federer Folds Against Nalbandian in Madrid FinalPosted on October 21, 2007 World No. 1 Roger Federer experienced a rare collapse Sunday in the final at the Masters Series-Madrid, in the first set steamrolling David Nalbandian 6-1 before committing a total of 38 unforced errors in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 loss.
Nalbandian is an old Federer foe, dominating Federer is their early-career meetings, and was on record as the last player to defeat the Swiss indoors, in a five-set thriller in the 2005 final of the year-ending Masters Cup. "I don't get surprised anymore by my opponents," Federer said. "If he's better, he's better, like today. I have to accept it because I tried very hard. I was trying in some ways, when I was younger, but never as hard as I do it today because then I thought maybe the talent would make the difference, not the fight. Today I tried to fight but it wasn't enough. I would have had to play better to win." The loss dropped Federer to 6-4 in finals this year. The win will lift the Argentine Nalbandian back near the Top 20 on the ATP Rankings. Nalbandian beat the Top 3 players in the world at Madrid, downing No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic to reach the final. In the doubles final, top seeds and defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan won their ninth Masters Series shield with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over against the unseeded Polish duo of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski. |
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