STUTTGART, Germany (AP) _ Rafael Nadal dropped serve three times
and had to sweep five straight games to win the Mercedes Cup with a
6-4, 7-5 win over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on Sunday.
The top-seeded Spaniard hadn't previously dropped serve in the
tournament, but had to rally from 5-2 down in the second set to
claim his sixth title this year and his 93rd win in 94 matches on
clay.
``I had a little luck, but I'm very happy I played well here,''
Nadal said. ``After losing the Wimbledon final to (Roger) Federer,
it was hard to have a good tournament.''
Nadal is 23-5 in career finals, the highest winning percentage in
the Open era.
The 50th-ranked Wawrinka had only won one match in eight attempts
heading into the tournament after returning in May from a knee
injury.
``I had almost no self-confidence before coming into this
tournament,'' Wawrinka said. ``I'm just enjoying it at the moment. I
played a really good match against the best clay-court player in the
world.''
Wawrinka said he received a text message from Federer, who beat
Nadal at Hamburg on May 20 for the Spaniard's only loss on clay in
his streak.
``He ... didn't give me any advice about how to beat Nadal,''
Wawrinka said.
