So a red hot Rafael Nadal, albeit playing his 10th match in less than two weeks, meets up in the Hamburg Masters final with legend-in-the-making Roger Federer, whose canonization into tennis sainthood has been slightly derailed of late by 2nd round losses, no titles, and a coaching change. However, hard times measure a man and a true champion is defined by his response to adversity. After dropping the first set 2-6, Federer found himself at a minor inflection point in his career. Would he go down as Nadal’s 82nd straight clay victim, happy to have made the finals, or would he summon the greatness that has put his name alongside legends like Laver, Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Sampras, & Agassi? It would be the latter, as he stormed through the next two sets 6-2, 6-0 to claim the title and his first victory over Nadal on clay. With the victory, Federer now goes into the French Open with some much needed momentum and greater confidence as he attempts to win the only Slam that has thus far eluded him.

Hamburg was also the stage for a revival of sorts for two former world # 1’s and Grand Slam champions, Lleyton Hewitt and Carlos Moya. Hewitt, who won the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon, has been very quiet since his drubbing at the hands of Federer in the 2005 US Open final. At Hamburg though, Hewitt managed victories over clay court stalwarts Nikolay Davydenko and Nicolas Almagro, and also took the first set off Nadal before finally bowing out in the semis. Moya, the 1998 French Open champ, is playing some nice tennis lately, bumping his ranking up to #26 now after starting the year at #43. He took out James Blake and Novak Djokovic before succumbing to Federer in the semis (though, like Hewitt vs. Nadal, he also won the first set). Both veterans head into the French on a nice little roll, if you’ll pardon the pun. And speaking of the French, look for a thorough preview from Todd’s Tennis Takes this Friday. Bon soir.