MONTE CARLO (Monaco), April 27: Rafael Nadal won an historic fourth successive Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday as he defeated world No 1 Roger Federer 7-5, 7-5 in the latest thrilling instalment of their epic rivalry.

The 21-year-old triple French Open champion came back from 0-4 down in the second set to achieve his third successive final victory over Federer in the principality.

It was also his ninth win in 15 career meetings with the world’s top player and his seventh in eight claycourt clashes.

The last man to win four Monte Carlo titles in a row was New Zealand’s Anthony Wilding in 1914 but Nadal, who now has 24 career titles, is the first man to complete the feat in the Open era.

The two great rivals shared breaks in the first two games before the Swiss carved out three crucial break points in the seventh by twice enticing Nadal into the net and stunning his opponent with a couple of sweet volleys.

The top seed grabbed the break, and a 4-3 lead, when Nadal, off balance, could only send a lob long.

However, the 21-year-old Nadal again retrieved the break, helped by a fortunate net cord which wrong-footed the advancing Federer, to pull level at 4-4.

Nadal was now in the ascendancy and created two set points in the 12th game when Federer, who hit 20 unforced errors to 11 in the opener, unleashed a sloppy backhand.

The set was the Spaniard’s after 51 minutes when he met a deep Federer volley with a sliced backhand of his own.

Federer, who had been within two points of a shock defeat in his opening match against another Spaniard, world number 137 Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, broke Nadal in the first game of the second set and backed it up with a hold to lead 2-0.

In a topsy-turvy final, the 12-time Grand Slam title winner broke again to lead 3-0, held for 4-0 but then allowed his opponent to hit back to 4-4 on the back of two breaks of his own.

Both men then held on but Federer cracked in the 12th game and handed Nadal the title with a loose backhand.

The statistics told a depressing tale for Federer in a match where he sent down 44 unforced errors to Nadal’s 20.

On Saturday, Federer reached the final after Serbian Novak Djokovic retired ill from their semi-final.

The Swiss top seed was leading 6-3, 3-2 when Australian Open champion Djokovic, seeded third, pulled out after complaining of dizziness and a sore throat.

Nadal reached the final with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

In the first set against Djokovic, Federer, who suffered from mononucleosis earlier this year, was back to his brilliant self.

He saved three break points in the fifth game before stealing Djokovic’s serve on his first attempt to open a decisive 5-3 lead.

Djokovic seemed in a position to bother the 12-times grand slam winner in the second set, only for him to leave the court following a quick chat with Federer.

Nadal, who will be gunning for a fourth consecutive French Open title next month, was unimpressive but still too good for an exhausted Davydenko.

The Russian, ranked third in the ATP Race after winning the Miami Masters against Nadal, needed two hours 44 minutes to overcome compatriot Igor Andreev in the quarter-finals on Friday and had already played 33 matches this season.

Two double faults by Davydenko earned the Majorcan a break in the third game. Nadal clinched the first set on his first opportunity when his opponent sent a forehand wide.

Following an early exchange of breaks, Davydenko dropped serve again in the sixth game and Nadal held his in the seventh after shrugging off three break points.

He sealed the win on his second match point when Davydenko sent a forehand long.—Agencies