Rafael Nadal took vengeance upon his astonishing French Open defeat to Robin Soderling, beating the Swede 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 to win the Capitala World Championship at the six-man invitational event here on Saturday. The win ended a run of two straight defeats against the towering Swede who handed the Spaniard his only loss after four consecutive titles on the clay of Roland Garros last May and then beat him at the year-end event in London just over a month ago.
Roger Federer, a victim of Soderling in the semi-finals on Friday, won the third-place playoff at the exhibition with a defeat of Spaniard David Ferrer 6-1, 7-5.
Nadal thrilled a crowd of 5,000 with Spanish supporters waving flags sprinkled throughout the stands.
Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts after defeating Sweden's Robin Soderling in the final of the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, January 2, 2010
"It's important to start the season like this, the last six months were so-so for me," said Nadal, who plays form Monday on the ATP at nearby Doha, Qatar. "Today I played a good match.
Nadal lost a break in the second set as Soderling pulled to 3-4before saving three match points in the eighth game.
But two games later, Nadal nailed down the win on his fourth chance as Soderling volleyed weakly into the net.
"I played three good matches. Hopefully I can continue to play as I did at the end of last season," said the No. 8, who beat Federer for the first time in 13 attempts in the semis.