Rafael Nadal may have had a bizarre start and a stranger end to the tournament in Hamburg, including a cramp attack that interrupted his victory ceremony on court but the Spaniard is thrilled to have captured his 47th title on clay on Sunday.
“I am cramping,” Nadal said midway through his victory speech after defeating Fabio Fognini 7-5, 7-5 in the final.
He then pulled up his leg behind his back and resumed, grimacing with pain as he said: “Okay, let’s continue like this… It’s not a joke.”
It wasn’t a joke but Nadal still managed to smile as a physio ran to his rescue to rub his thigh while he completed his speech.
Searching for a third title of the season and a much-needed confidence boost following a stream of inconsistent results in 2015, Nadal avoided losing to Fognini for a third consecutive time on clay this year by overcoming the Italian No 8 seed in a tight two hour 34 minute battle.
“When you play against a player who has a high level when he’s playing well and you can add that he beat me twice in this year, I knew it was going to be a tough one,” admitted Nadal, who is now 5-2 lifetime against Fognini.
“I think I had a great attitude the whole match, very positive, fighting for every ball. I had some tough moments on court, lost opportunities but every time I came back and I kept fighting with the right mentality. So I’m very happy for the victory. It is an important victory for me.”
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It capped a challenging week for Nadal in the northern German city – a place where he had not competed since 2008.
In the first round against Fernando Verdasco, Nadal was trailing by a set and needed 12 minutes to hold in the opening game of the second before he turned things around to beat his countryman and advance in three sets.
In the semi-finals against Andreas Seppi, Nadal’s routine win was interrupted by a medical timeout where the Mallorcan needed a doctor to check his breathing.
His final against Fognini was also an eventful one.
Fognini, who is just the second man – alongside Novak Djokovic – to have multiple wins against Nadal on clay in the same season, broke the top seed in a 12-minute first game to kick off proceedings.
But Nadal broke back and they traded breaks again until the Spaniard finally held for 3-2.
They continued to push each other but a forehand return winner finally gave Nadal a decisive break to take the opening set.
The 14-time major champion broke for a 3-1 lead in the second but Fognini clawed his way back and he got himself in a position to serve for the second set at 5-4.
In the changeover, the players exchanged some angry words after which Nadal returned to the court to take the next three games and seal his victory and earn a valuable 500 points that would boost his chances of making the ATP World Tour Finals at the end of the season. Fognini finished the match with 60 unforced errors.
“I just try to follow this line. And now the hard court season is starting, it’s a different story and play,” said the 29-year-old.
“But, at the same time, keep going with the same mentality. This title helps to be a little bit more calm, add some points to the ranking to try to finish the year in the Top 8 again. I take a good advantage with this victory today,” added Nadal, who next competes in the ATP Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati before heading to the US Open.
“But I need to keep fighting, I need to keep doing the right things and we’ll see.”
