Did Roger Federer whiff his final shot in the Madrid Masters final?

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Apparently, Roger Federer can laugh at himself ... which is good since a lot of other people -- probably with much less talent in tennis -- might be laughing at him as well.

Federer appeared to completely miss an easy (for the top-ranked player in the world, at least) forehand shot on match point against Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s Madrid Masters final, giving Nadal the 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory.

In some replays, Federer’s racket doesn’t seem to miss the ball entirely, but it sure looked like a whiff on the live broadcast:

Either way, Federer is said to have laughed it off. ‘Well, I’ve had more beautiful match points,’ he said after the loss. ‘I decided to take a chance, and it didn’t pay off.’

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.