Spanish sensation equals record of 53 straight clay court wins as he saved two match points on way to beating top seed.
ROME: Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal equaled the record of 53 straight clay court victories as he saved two match points on his way to beating top seed Roger Federer 6-7 (0/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) to win the Rome Masters on Sunday.
Nadal's fourth straight victory over his world number one rival equaled the clay run of match success established by Argentine Guillermo Vilas in 1977.
It was Nadal's fifth victory over Federer in six meetings between the top two players in the world.
Nadal defended his third clay title of the season after Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
"I'm very content, this was a fantastic win," said Nadal, who saved two match points in the 12th game of the final set in a match which lasted five hours, six minutes.
"The crowd was great. I'm happy to have won a second title here. But Roger is a great player.
"He has been the finalist at Monte Carlo, finalist at Rome and three times a Hamburg champion on clay. It will be easier for him to win Roland Garros than for me to win Wimbledon."
Federer led 4-1 in the final set and served for victory in the 12th game.
Nadal stood 0-30 in that game after his only double-fault of a long afternoon on the clay But a pair of forehand mistakes, among 89 unforced errors off the Swiss player's racket in a match where he went to the attack from the start nullified both match points.
Nadal held serve for 6-6 to force a tiebreaker, where Federer couldn't hold a 3-1 lead.
The world number one put a backhand long on a service return to hand Nadal his victory chance, which the young king of clay converted as a Federer forehand sailed out.
The final was the second marathon here in as many years -- it took Nadal eight minutes longer to defeat Guillermo Coria for the trophy a year ago.
The teenager will head to Roland Garros riding a wave of form as defending champion.
All three of Federer's defeats this season have all come at the hands of his young rival.
The Swiss, accompanied during the clay season by legendary coach Tony Roche, is pointing his spring season towards Paris, where he is keen to lift the French Open, the only Grand Slam title which he has never won.
Federer played a solid first set, trading breaks with second seed before the set headed into a tiebreaker.
The Swiss dominated in style, sweeping it to love after 70 minutes.
But the energetic Nadal began to pull his powerful game together after the early setback.
Nadal missed on a set point in the second leading 5-4 but won a tiebreaker as Federer netted a backhand.
Nadal consolidated in the third set to take the lead after three hours on court before the Federer resurgence.
Federer, playing in his 13th straight final, had lost only three of those coming in -- Dubai and Monte Carlo this season to Nadal and the Masters Cup in Shanghai to David Nalbandian last year, whom he beat in the Rome semis.
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