Rafael Nadal admitted winning the Hamburg Open was an “important” moment for him after a disappointing few months.

The Spaniard beat Fabio Fognini in straight sets on Sunday afternoon to claim the 67th title of his career.

Critics of Nadal had claimed he was past his best in recent weeks after he was knocked out of Wimbledon back in June. The ‘King of Clay’ suffered a three-set defeat to unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov but he bounced back on Sunday ahead of the US Open.

He moved up to ninth in the world following the win as he won another clay title in a season, a record he has maintained since 2004.

Nadal, 10.00 to win at Flushing Meadows in New York City with Dafabet, managed to beat Fognini, who had beaten him twice this calendar year already in Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona.

A competitive first set eventually went the way of Nadal after 77 minutes but he was forced to work hard for the victory. Both players exchanged breaks in the second set and Nadal was forced into another tie break in Hamburg as Fognini refused to lie down.

He eventually secured the 7-5 7-5 win with his first match point chance and Nadal admitted afterwards the win was very important for him at this stage of his career, following a disappointing 12 months.

“It was a great match, many great points, many breaks, we fought hard,” he told reporters. “I had many ups and downs.
“It’s an important title for me.”