Federer, Serena Williams win at Madrid Open

MADRID - Roger Federer battled back from a set down to beat Tomas Berdych 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 and win the Madrid Open for a third time on Sunday.

Earlier, Serena Williams overpowered the top-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3 to win the women’s final.

While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had blamed the new blue-clay court for their early exits, Federer’s biggest obstacle was to overcome an opponent who had beaten him in three of their previous five meetings.

“It is amazing to win here again,” said Federer. “It has been a tough tournament. Tough to move, but you’ve got to try to make the most of it. Here there was some good tennis and some bad tennis, but you see that in all tournaments.”

In a clash of two of the tour’s heaviest hitters, Williams served 14 aces on her way to her 41st career title over Azarenka and second of the season as she remained unbeaten in her last 13 matches on clay.

The loss ended Azarenka’s run of winning her last four tournaments.

AP