For the second year in a row, there was no stopping Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin-Hardenne. This was the fourth time in the tournament's history that both holders successfully defended their titles, and the first time since 1992 (when Jim Courier and Monica Seles made it two in a row). Both players certainly earned their repeat success – Nadal won an epic final against Roger Federer, while Henin-Hardenne swept all before her without dropping so much as a set along the way...

Give me more, give me more – that's Rafael Nadal's motto. In June 2005, the Spaniard fell to the ground, overcome with joy and disbelief, before getting up, sweeping the red dust from his shirt and going to shake the hand of his vanquished opponent, Roger Federer. And then a year later, there he was again, staring up at the sky as he lay on Philippe Chatrier court, drinking in the fact that he had once again taken on all-comers and won. "Rafa" has taken part in two French Opens and won them both – an unprecedented feat. He may be only 20 years old, but he has shown that he has no equal on clay – indeed, his unbeaten run on the surface stood at 60 matches after Roland Garros 2006.

This tournament was also all about defeat – that of world number 1 Roger Federer, who lost his first ever Grand Slam final. Had the Swiss maestro won, he would have confirmed his reputation as one of the all-time legends of the sport, by winning all four Grand Slam events in a row, albeit over two seasons. He could have become the first player since Björn Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon, but the final hurdle proved to be insurmountable.

No backhanded compliments

Fans of flowing tennis were expecting so much of Federer, but they left disappointed after the final. Few would have bet against him, however, after he raced into an early lead, taking the first set 6-1 as Nadal struggled to conquer his nerves. Then, in the second game of the following set, the tide turned. The man from Basle completely lost his rhythm and squandered a 40-0 lead. Once "Rafa" had broken serve, there was no looking back. The Majorcan lefty used the 32° C heat to sharpen his topspin, and Federer's backhand was found wanting. Nadal needed no second bidding...

Federer is not world number 1 for nothing, however, and the 15,000 fans who filled the stands around Philippe Chatrier court were on the edges of their seats when he squared things up at 5-5 in the fourth, thanks to a lucky net cord and then a backs-to-the-wall effort on the following point. Come the tie-break, however, his backhand let him down once more at a crucial moment. The Spanish number 2 seed, sensing victory, unleashed another forehand topspin volley and the match was over, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 in a fraction more than three hours. "I'm not totally downhearted," said a calm yet gracious Federer after the match. "This was my first time in the final here and I seem to improve the more I play here."

Nadal, on the other hand, was even more emotional than after his first victory the previous season. "I had to make a real come-back this year, and this second win is even more important to me than the first," said the boy from Manacor, referring to the foot injury that saw him miss out on the Australian Open at the start of the season. He also had to work a great deal harder for his success this time around, notably in the third round against Paul-Henri Mathieu, who pushed him all the way in one of the great matches in the history of the French Open.

Mathieu .v. Nadal – one for the annals

Up until this point, the tournament had taken a while to warm up, partly due to the unseasonably chilly weather conditions, with courtside temperatures falling as low as 10°C during the opening matches. The heat was certainly on when Mathieu took to the stage, however, and with the public behind him every step of the way, the local hero hit a massive 60 winners against the number 2 seed. The first set was an epic in itself, lasting 1 hour 33 minutes, and the Frenchman looked every inch a winner as he sprayed the ball around the court seemingly at will with an incredible blend of power and precision. Nadal is not known as "The King of Clay" for nothing, however, and like Mohammed Ali against Georges Foreman during the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, the Spaniard took everything that was thrown at him, bending but never breaking, before launching his final unstoppable attack. In the end, it took almost five hours, but Nadal emerged victorious in four sets, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, and while it may have taken something out of him physically, this was more than outweighed by the demoralising effect it had on his future opponents.

Two days later, Lleyton Hewitt also managed to take a set off The King, but went down 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 2-6, and through it all, despite the epic battles, the Majorcan never seemed ruffled.

Queen Justine

Perhaps the women's draw might have been more captivating had there been someone to push the champion all the way, as Mathieu did to Nadal, but there was literally no stopping Justine Henin-Hardenne throughout the fortnight. No-one managed even to take a set off her, and the Belgian lost a mere 39 games in securing her third French Open title. Belarus' Anastasia Yakimova, ranked 65 in the world, squandered three points for one set all in their second round match, and that minor hiccup was as close as anyone would get throughout the tournament.

2004 winner Anastasia Myskina fell in the quarters 6-1, 6-4, while in the semis, Kim Clijsters got no presents on the day of her 23rd birthday, going down 6-3, 6-2. Svetlana Kuznetsova gave it her best shot in the final, losing 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour 36 minutes, but Queen Justine was never pushed, and indeed never really had to play her best tennis. "That isn't so important though," she said after the tournament. "What is it that people will remember? The way I played, or the fact that I've won my third title? Arantxa Sanchez and Monica Seles won here three times in the past, and now I have too, and it's just great to be in such good company as those two."

Henin-Hardenne's fifth Grand Slam win came in the end as no great surprise. Her range of shots on clay is second to none, and once Amélie Mauresmo had again proved to have feet of clay when it comes to her home tournament, there was no-one to knock the Belgian out of her stride.

All eyes on Vaidisova

She may have been world number 1 and top seed, but Mauresmo never got out of the starting blocks in Paris this time around, and any hopes of a home win were dashed as early as the round of 16, when she fell to Nicole Vaidisova – a 17-year-old Czech-born prodigy from the Nick Bollettieri academy in Florida. The 2005 Masters and 2006 Australian Open champion was blown away by the 1.87m Vaidisova, whose powerful service and punching forehand earned her a 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 win.

The blond bombshell then went on to beat Venus Williams and was a mere two points away from making it past Kuznetsova and into the final. Her sparkling play certainly lit up the women's draw, and so did the return of Martina Hingis. Five years after her last appearance on the hallowed clay, the Swiss Miss was back, and as at the Australian Open, she made it all the way through to the quarter finals. As in Melbourne, however, she lost to Kim Clijsters (7-6, 6-1), though their opening set was perhaps the best that the women's draw had to offer in 2006. Martina has yet to win at Roland Garros, but she'll no doubt be back in 2007 – as will her compatriot Roger Federer. Whether they will ever manage to dislodge the holders from their thrones is another thing altogether...