World number two Rafael Nadal [Images] won his sixth title of the year on Sunday, seeing off a stiff challenge from unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka to win 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the Stuttgart Cup.
The French Open champion, competing in his 16th straight clay-court final, was made to work hard by the Swiss world number 50 and came back from 5-2 down in the second set to take victory in just over two hours.
It was Nadal's second win in Stuttgart after his 2005 triumph and he improves his 2007 win-loss record to 56-8, with 31-1 on clay.
Wawrinka was out for three months earlier this year with a knee injury but pushed the 21-year-old Spaniard harder than any of his opponents at the Weissenhof this week and broke the top seed three times.
The Majorcan was playing in his first tournament since losing the final at Wimbledon to world number one Roger Federer [Images] earlier this month and has now won 93 of his 94 matches on clay since April 2005.
His only defeat came against Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters in May.
Nadal had problems with his right knee earlier in the week which almost forced his withdrawal from the tournament. He was again wearing strapping on Sunday but showed no signs of discomfort.
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