Rafael Nadal won his third straight clay-court title on Sunday by edging French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6) at the Rome Masters in a match that ended in darkness and lasted more than five hours.
Nadal, who has won 17 straight matches, appeared exhausted and debilitated from blisters to his playing hand when he fell behind 0-3 in the fifth set.
Somehow, the 18-year-old Spaniard found the energy to rally for yet another victory, just as he fought back from first-set losses in his previous two matches.
”This was the toughest match of my life,” Nadal said. ”I want to thank the fans, without whom I would have lost.”
The match, which began in bright sunlight and concluded five hours and 14 minutes later, was a repeat of Nadal’s victory over Coria in the Monte Carlo Masters final last month.
”I thought that sooner or later he would give up, or at least ease up,” Coria said. ”But he kept responding with incredible shots, shots that few people would have been able to come up with.”
Nadal ate a bowl of pasta as he answered questions at the post-match press conference, but he would not acknowledge his fatigue, joking that he only felt tired ”in the toes” of his feet after the fourth set.
The Spaniard also won in Barcelona, part of his tour-best 31-2 record on clay this season.
Nadal’s fifth title of the season drew him even with top-ranked Roger Federer for most on tour. His only loss in a final this year came against Federer in March at the Masters Series event in Key Biscayne, Florida, where he squandered a two-set lead.
”Federer is still number one, but I’m getting closer,” said Nadal, who moved within 10 points of Federer in the season-long points race.
Nadal is the first teenager to win five titles in a season since Andre Agassi won six in 1988.
Nadal, who is left-handed, had a trainer come out to retape a blister on his left index finger after winning the third set. Nadal also played with the blister in his past two matches.
After falling behind 2-0 in the fourth set, Nadal called for the trainer again. This time, another bandage was placed on a blister that developed in different section of his left hand.
After a lacklustre fourth set, Nadal was treated again before starting the fifth.
When Nadal broke serve to make it 1-3 in the fifth set, he made his first fist pump in what seemed like an hour, raising his bandaged hand stoically.
Upon taking a 4-1 lead in the tie-break, Nadal found the energy for a leaping fist pump.
Coria fought back, however, and Nadal couldn’t finish the match off until his fourth match point, falling to the ground with joy as Coria’s volley sailed long.
Nadal won 190 points to Coria’s 188, with both players breaking serve nine times.
While he was playing in Rome for the first time, most of the crowd rooted for Nadal. A small group of flag-waving Argentine fans evened things out with their vocal support for Coria from the upper deck.
Nadal’s victory in this €2-million clay-court tune-up for the French Open, which begins on May 23, will likely make him a big favourite in Paris.
Nadal, who turns 19 next month, is the youngest winner in Rome since Jimmy Arias took the title when he was 18 years and nine months old in 1983.
Bjorn Borg holds the record for youngest champion in Rome, taking the title when he was 17 in 1974, shortly before he won his first French Open. — Sapa-AP