TENNIS - Nadal tops Federer,Venus loses

MADRID (AP):

Rafael Nadal won a record 18th Masters title by beating Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the Madrid final yesterday.

Nadal reversed the result of the 2009 final - the last time the pair had played against each other - to win in Madrid for a second time and move one Masters title ahead of Andre Agassi and two in front of Federer.

Nadal, who will return to No. 2 in today's rankings, is 15-0 on clay this season, having also won in Monte Carlo and Rome to become the first player to win all three titles in the same season. He has lost only two sets during that run.

"The most important thing is winning at home; winning in Madrid is a dream. After that, I think about the ranking," said Nadal. "Against this opponent, it's always going to be difficult."

Very happy

Nadal dodged questions about being the favourite at the French Open.

"I'm very happy with everything so far this year. I think I've returned to my top form and that's the most important thing for me," Nadal said. "Am I favourite to win at Roland Garros? I was last year and I lost."

Both players dropped serve early in the first set before the second-seeded Nadal broke decisively to lead 4-3.

In the second set, Nadal claimed a tightly contested tie-breaker after two breaks of serve each.

"I wasn't able to defend my title here today but I thought Rafa played an incredible clay-court season," said Federer. "I'm looking forward to Paris now. I'm happy with my clay-court game."

He added: "It's nice that we have had a chance to play each other again and live up to the expectations with a good match and it was a nice performance from both of us. He comes up with incredible stuff. He's Rafa Nadal after all."

In the women's final, Venus Williams was beaten 6-2, 7-5 by unseeded Aravane Rezai of France.

Rezai rallied from two breaks down in the second set to win her third career title in her sixth final.

Second appearance

The French player was making her second appearance at the Madrid Masters and came in having lost in the first round in Barcelona and the second round in Rome. She ended up dropping only one set throughout the tournament.

"It's been the best week of my career," Rezai said. "I played very well and I'm very proud of myself because it was a very tough tournament and there were a lot of players here - everyone was here - so I just believed in myself."

The fourth-seeded Williams was seeking to win a 10th clay-court title and improve on her 12-1 record on the surface this year. It was the 70th final of her career and she will rise to No. 2 in the rankings today for the first time since May 2003.

"I probably wasn't at the highest of my energy today. I felt a little slower than normal, but I tried hard and I feel very good about my game," Williams said.

"Sometimes you run into a player who's red hot; they hit every shot, they don't miss - and credit to them."