Nadal takes German crown

Rafael Nadal won his sixth title of the year on Sunday when he beat unseeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in 6-4, 7-5 in the Stuttgart final. Despite taking the first set with relative ease, Nadal had to dig deep against the plucky Wawrinka who led 4-1 early in the second set and broke his opponent twice.

But triple French Open winner Nadal showed his class on his beloved clay by breaking Wawrinka's serve three times and needed just over two hours to seal the win - his 93rd in 94 matches on clay. In his 16th straight clay-court final, Nadal clinched an ATP-best sixth win from eight finals this year and his only defeat on clay this year came against world number one Roger Federer in Hamburg's ATP tournament in May.

"It has been a good week," said Nadal, who showed no signs of the persistent knee problem which had bothered him all week. "I played well in this tournament and I wanted to get a win after my defeat at Wimbledon. "It is a great tournament and I am looking forward to coming back again next year."

But for 22-year-old Wawrinka, it has been "a crazy week" and he revealed he received a text message of support and tips from Swiss compatriot Federer before Sunday's final. Having come into the tournament with just three match wins this year, due in part to a knee injury that had sidelined him for three months, it was only his third ATP final.