For the second time in as many months, Rafael Nadal leaves Germany with a trophy in his racket bag and a spring in his step. Well, almost. The Spaniard, who won on grass in Stuttgart seven weeks ago, came through a gruelling match against Fabio Fognini 7-5, 7-5 to win the Hamburg Open final and seal his third title of the year.
Rekindling memories of a press conference he gave after beating David Nalbandian at the 2011 US Open, when he slid off his chair after suffering a sudden attack of cramp, Nadal then succumbed to cramp as he addressed the crowd during the trophy ceremony.
After a punishing contest in the afternoon sun that stretched to more than two hours and 34 minutes against an opponent who has become something of a clay-court nemesis this year, Nadal might have hoped that Michael Stich, the tournament director, would bring the formalities to a swift conclusion.
The former Wimbledon champion instead spoke at length and by the time Nadal got a turn at the mic he had evidently begun to stiffen up.
“It was a great final, up and down, so I hope that people enjoyed it,” said Nadal, who last won the ATP Tour 500 event in 2008, when it was still part of the Masters Series. “Coming back to Hamburg after eight years was a big challenge and excitement for me.”
Moments later, he announced he was cramping and began stretching his quadriceps. Standing on one leg, he added, to the crowd’s evident amusement: “OK, we continue like this.”
In truth, though, it was Fognini who did not have a leg to stand on. The Italian, who beat Nadal at the Rio Open in February and repeated the feat in Barcelona in April, becoming the only player other than Novak Djokovic to better the Spaniard more than once on clay in the same season, had plenty of chances. His challenge, however, was undermined by 60 unforced errors, the most damaging of which came towards the end of the second set, for which he served at 5-4.
Nadal struggled to match Fognini’s sporadic passages of brilliance but he was the steadier player and maintained his composure at the key moments, his focus relentless even when his form wavered.
The merits of beginning his preparations for the US hard-court swing on clay remain to be seen but – in a year when indifferent form has resulted in him losing his French Open crown, crashing out in the second round of Wimbledon to the qualifier Dustin Brown and sliding to 10th in the world rankings – confidence has been at a premium for Nadal.
He will head to North America in better spirits than he might have done.
