Youzhny Hammers Nadal in Chennai Championship

Fourth-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny claimed his fourth career ATP singles title stunning World No. 2 Rafael Nadal 6-0, 6-1 to capture the Chennai Open Sunday.

“I am very happy with this title but I did not play against Rafael Nadal today," Youzhny said. "He was dead and could not move. I have to thank Carlos (Moya) for keeping him on the court for four hours last night. I really can't say much more about the final, bad luck for Rafa. This week I started slowly but then played better and better round after round. It is a great start to 2008."

Youzhny dominated his service games in the first set dropping just three points on serve while breaking Nadal three times to wrap up a 6-0 set in 24 minutes.

The second set was more of the same as Youzhny continued to serve well leading to the 57-minue win.

The World No. 19 Youzhny, who had lost his past three encounters with Nadal, now improves to 4-6 against Nadal.

Youzhny was playing in his eighth career ATP singles final and now stands at 4-4 lifetime. His most recent title came in Rotterdam last February when he defeated World No. 8 Ivan Ljubicic in the final.

In claiming the 2008 Chennai title, Youzhny became the first Russian to lift the trophy in the event’s 13-year history.

The loss was Nadal's worst career loss in terms of games won.

“Last year semifinals, this year final, next year (I will win) the title," Nadal said. "Misha played very well and I have to congratulate him. I don't want to make any excuses. I played almost four hours last night and maybe it was too much to come back less than 24 hours later and play the final. I did not recover. Last night it was so emotional against Carlos, who is one of my best friends. I am still happy with my week, first tournament and I reach the final."

Nadal’s Saturday semifinal against Carlos Moya lasted 3-hours, 54-minutes, the longest three set match since 1993 when Andrei Cherkasov beat Andrea Gaudenzi in the quarterfinals of Tel Aviv (matching Saturday’s time).

The 21-year-old Nadal was competing in his 30th ATP singles final, and now holds a 23-7 record (5-4 on hard) in title matches.  (ATP Digital Services)