rogerfederer.com - Roger defeated in Madrid final

Roger defeated in Madrid final

Roger was not able to defend his title in Madrid today. He lost to David Nalbandian 6-1, 3-6 and 3-6.

Roger made an excellent start, clearly dominating his opponent in the first set. But just as our star looked as though he might run away with it, Nalbandian fought his way back into the match by breaking Roger's serve in the second game of the second set. Roger looked uneasy at the start of the decider and gifted Nalbandian another break in the third game after two uncharacteristically loose shots that drifted beyond the baseline.

The world number 25 kept our title-holder on the ropes with some excellent serving and deep returns and broke again in the ninth to claim the sixth ATP title of his career and make up for the disappointment when he lost against Marat Safin in the 2004 final. Nalbandian, who beat world numbers two and three, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, on his way to the final, became only the second player since Boris Becker in 1994 to beat the top three at the same event.

It was Roger's first defeat since he lost to Djokovic in the final of the Montreal Masters in August and only his seventh loss of the year. Roger had beaten Nalbandian in eight of their last nine meetings including a 6-4 6-0 win in the semi-final here last year, but the Argentine was the last man to beat the Swiss Indoors when he won the Masters Cup in Shanghai in Nov. 2005.