Nadal was bidding to become the first man to win all three clay court Masters events in one year after his victories in Monte Carlo and Rome but slipped to only his fifth loss on his favoured surface in 155 matches since 2005.
Federer has lost to Nadal in the final of the French Open the past three years and his victory on Sunday will boost the Swiss world number two's hopes he can win a 14th grand slam singles title at Roland Garros starting later this month.
Federer had to fend off break points in the second and sixth games of the first set but then grabbed a crucial break in game nine before serving out the set to love.
A delicate drop shot that even the athletic Spaniard could not chase down gave him another opportunity in the fifth game of the second set and Nadal netted a backhand to fall 3-2 behind.
The Swiss slipped to 15-40 when serving for the match but fought back to deuce and powered an ace down the middle on his second championship point before raising his arms in triumph.
"I thought I took all the right decisions today and in the end it looked pretty comfortable so it was a perfect win for me, I'm very, very happy that I stayed positive and I got the win I needed badly because I've had some rather bad losses this year," he added. "It's very satisfying." Federer told a news conference.
This was Federer's first title of the year, his 58th in all, and his 15th Masters, putting him level again with Nadal.
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