Federer wins tenth title

The 25-year-old withstood an early storm from 10th-seeded Gonzalez but pulled away in the second and third sets as Gonzalez cracked under the pressure.

"I've missed the last two editions because of fatigue and injury and it was great to come here again and win the game," Federer said.

"It's a great day in my career."

The Swiss star had won all seven of his previous encounters with Gonzalez but was tested at the in the opening set also hitting some unforced errors.

Gonzo - playing in his first Masters final - started strongly and put Federer under pressure earning a couple of break point opportunities.

But he could not convert the opportunities and Federer broke in the 12th game to take the set 7-5.

Having drawn the sting from Gonzalez, Federer stepped up another gear in the second set, breaking in the fourth game to go 3-1 up.

The Swiss hit the lines and gave the Chilean no chance as he rattled through the next three games to take the set in just 26 minutes.

He picked up where he had left off at the start of the third, breaking in the first and third games to turn the screw on the Chilean.

Federer raced to a 5-0 lead and although Gonzalez mounted a brief rearguard action in the final game the Chilean could do nothing to prevent a whitewash in the final set.

Madrid is Federer's fourth title of the year and the 12th of his career moving him into second behind Andre Agassi who leads the list with a record 17 masters titles.

The victory was also Federer's 19th consecutive win and his 82nd for the year. He is the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1982 to win 80 matches two years in a row.

"I played well, I didn't drop a set all week and I really turned it on from the semis on," said Federer after becoming the first player in the Open era to win 10 titles or more in three successive seasons.

Federer again refused to speculate as to whether he was going to be remembered as the best ever player in history.

"I am the best right now but I don't know about the best in history," he added.

"We will never know unless I break all the records before I finish. I'm five years away from that though.

There's a long way to go but I'm in the fast lane. I feel a more steady player and physically I've improved too and [am] not scared of any five setters."

Gonzalez - who is now just 30 points behind ninth placed Tommy Robredo in the race to qualify for the Masters Cup in Shanghai next month - admitted that when Federer is playing it is very difficult for anyone to even come close.

"The first set was really close but after that it was different and he passed over me," said Gonzalez.

"Maybe I wasn't at my best but I couldn't do anything. When Federer plays well it is very difficult to play against him."