Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - Rafael Nadal continued his amazing success on clay with a straight-set victory over Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the Mercedes Cup.
The top-seeded Nadal was pushed by the unseeded Wawrinka, but still had enough to pull out a 6-4, 7-5 triumph for his sixth title of 2007 and the 23rd of his brilliant career. He also won this tournament in 2005.
Despite the straight-set scores, Wawrinka was ahead in both sets. Nadal had to win the last three games of the first set, then trailed 2-5 in the second before rallying to win the final five games.
Nadal has now won 93 of his last 94 matches on clay, with his only loss in that span a setback to world No. 1 Roger Federer in a final at Hamburg in May. Of course, Nadal avenged that setback a few weeks later by beating Federer in the French Open final for his third straight championship at Roland Garros.
This was the Spanish sensation's first tournament since losing to Federer in the final at Wimbledon. Nadal improved to 18-1 lifetime in clay finals and 23-5 in finals on all surfaces.
Wawrinka was trying for his second career ATP title and first since capturing last year's tournament in Umag. He was also a runner-up two years ago in Gstaad.
This was just the second meeting between the two, with Nadal also winning at this year's Australian Open.
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