Nadal wins exhibition thriller

Tennis: Rafael Nadal won the so-called 'Battle of the Surfaces' with an incredible tie-break victory against Roger Federer on…

Tennis:Rafael Nadal won the so-called 'Battle of the Surfaces' with an incredible tie-break victory against Roger Federer on Wednesday.

What began as an exhibition became an epic as the world's two best players slugged it out on a court that was grass at one end, clay at the other, on Nadal's home island of Mallorca.

In the end, it was the 20-year-old world number two who snatched a 7-5 4-6 7-6 (12/10) victory over the world number one.

Both players are undisputed champions of their respective surfaces, Nadal last week extending his world-record winning streak on clay to 72 matches.

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In winning his fourth straight Wimbledon crown last summer, Federer racked up a record 48th successive victory on grass.

Neither player had defeated the other on his favoured surface, Nadal having won all five clay-court meetings, including the last two French Open finals.

Their only grass-court meeting came in last year's Wimbledon final.

The opening three games today went with serve, Nadal kicking off proceedings by serving from the clay end, Federer responding in kind and Nadal holding at the grass end.

Then, despite serving on grass, Federer lost his way to hand Nadal a 3-1 lead.

The Spaniard consolidated the break and came close to a 5-1 lead but Federer recovered from 0-30 down to hold from the clay end.

It proved crucial as the Swiss star recovered the break from the clay end before holding on grass to draw level at 4-4.

Service games were traded again before Nadal held on grass and broke Federer from the opposite end to take the set.

The world number one came out fighting in the second set, immediately breaking Nadal, who was serving on his favoured clay.

That proved to be enough to eventually take the set 6-4 and level the match.

Nadal broke serve in the fourth game of the decider for a 3-1 lead but Federer hit straight back and then held serve to level at 3-3.

Neither player was able to force a decisive break and the match went into a tie-break.

Despite being at the clay end, Federer claimed the first mini-break to go 2-0 up, and led 4-2 at the changeover.

But Nadal came storming back on his favoured surface to force another change of ends at 6-6.

The pair could not be separated, changing ends again at 9-9, but Nadal's battling qualities finally told as he broke at 11-10 for victory.