Roger Federer accomplished something at the Nasdaq-100 Open he had not done for almost four years when he won a match from two sets down.
The Swiss master usually bamboozles his opponents from the moment he steps on court but Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal made a blistering start to Sunday's final.
It was not that Federer was playing badly in what turned out to be a thrilling contest, just that he ran into an inspired Nadal, who went into the biggest match of his burgeoning career on a 15-match winning streak.
For a man who had tasted defeat just once in eight months, Federer was on unfamiliar territory as he lost the opening two sets.
The world number one had to dig deep into his memory bank as the last time he overcame a two-set deficit was in the 2001 French Open, when Armenia's Sargis Sargsian took him to 9-7 in the fifth set of a second-round match.
Federer was only two points from defeat in the third-set tiebreaker against Nadal but he found his way out of trouble to win 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1.
"I was very worried, especially after the first set as I don't lose sets very often 6-2, so this really shows you that I was struggling," said Federer, whose only defeat since last August was a five-set marathon against Marat Safin in the Australian Open semi-finals.
"Every match I go into, I'm this huge favourite. When I lose sets, it's like crazy," he said.
"I'm really happy that I came back because I've hardly ever done it in my career. This is a big moment in my career, especially in the final against a player of this calibre."
CALM AUTHORITY
Since bursting on the scene with a stunning win over seven-times Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras at the All England Club in 2001, Federer has been the epitome of calm authority.
Even that facade slipped against Nadal, however, with the top seed hurling his racket to the ground in frustration as his record of 17 consecutive final victories came under threat.
"I was very disappointed as I was missing one opportunity after another," he said. "I really felt like I was climbing uphill all the time.
"I had an opportunity and I missed it again and just had enough. So I threw it hard... who knows, maybe it did me good and woke me up."
Having extended his record to 18 successive final triumphs and recovered his cool, Federer turned his thoughts to the French Open, the one Grand Slam title to elude him.
"I'll definitely work on my physical conditioning but there's only so much you can do before the French," said the Swiss, who has never advanced beyond the quarter-finals in six visits to the claycourt major.
"My potential relies very much on my explosiveness, I've got to use that on clay as well.
"I know I've got the game, and I know I can hang tough now for five sets without a problem, where in the past maybe that wasn't always the case."
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