MADRID, 24 October 2005 — World No. 2 Rafael Nadal staged a heroic fightback from two sets down to clinch his fourth Masters title of the year with a thrilling 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Ivan Ljubicic in Madrid yesterday.
The 19-year-old Spaniard appeared to be on the brink of defeat when he trailed the in-form Croatian and struggled to hold his own serve.
But the top seed, roared on by a capacity 10,000 crowd, turned the tide to claim a famous victory.
“It was an incredibly difficult victory,” an ecstatic Nadal told reporters.
“The only reason why I can explain that I managed to turn the game around was the support of the fans here in Madrid.
“They have 80 percent of the responsibility for the victory.” Nadal’s victory meant he equalled world No. 1 Roger Federer’s feat of winning 11 ATP titles this season. The pair have also mopped up all eight of this year’s Masters Series crowns.
Davenport Downs Schnyder
in Zurich Final
In Zurich, top seed Lindsay Davenport defeated Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder 7-6, 6-3 to win the Zurich Open yesterday, her sixth title of the season.
The American’s tally puts her in second place this year behind the eight titles of Belgian Kim Clijsters, and yesterdy’s victory was her third tournament win in six weeks after triumphs in Bali and Filderstadt. Davenport’s victory also continued her remarkable run at this event. She has now claimed four Zurich titles and in her six appearances has never failed to reach the final. Her only defeats were by Martina Hingis in 2000 and by Schnyder in 2002.
Davenport, who had dinner with men’s world No. 1 Roger Federer on Saturday evening, served for the opening set at 5-4 but then had to fight off three set points.
She often looked sluggish and was unable to overpower her opponent, who showed no sign of being intimidated playing for the title in front of her home supporters.
Both players had difficulty holding serve in most of the early games, and Davenport had to hold off break points when down 2-1 and 3-2 before breaking Schnyder to love to lead 4-3.
Davenport then served for the set at 5-4 but she netted a forehand to set up break point and Schnyder hit a winning forehand to level at 5-5. Davenport was soon in danger of dropping the set when sixth seeded Schnyder led 6-5 and 40-0 on the American’s serve.
But Davenport won the next five points to take the set to a tiebreak, which she edged 7-5.
With neither player able to take command, the second set also remained closely contested.
After the first three games went against serve, Davenport broke to level at 3-3, and in a lengthy game at 4-3 the top seed earned another vital break when Schnyder netted a forehand.
