New Delhi: The King of grass Roger Federer met clay court emperor Rafael Nadal half-way in Spain. On a more serious note, this was an exhibition match played on a court that was half-clay and half-grass.
World number two Nadal beat World No. 1 Federer even though the odds were heavily stacked against Rafa.
Nadal, on an unbeaten run of 72 matches on clay, beat Fedex in a tight 3-setter. After winning the first set, Nadal lost his way in the second, but held on in the third set tie-breaker to clinch the match.
Federer hasn't lost on grass in four years either, a 48-match run that includes four straight Wimbledon titles.
Federer was leading 4-1 in the tiebreaker before Nadal rallied. After the Spaniard double-faulted while ahead 6-5, the players traded match points. Nadal then hit three of the final four winners from the clay side before a sellout crowd of about 7,000.
The grass caused some tricky bounces, especially as the match progressed. But both players showed little difficulty in switching surfaces, as they changed shoes at changeovers.
(With inputs from AP)
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