In yet another rock solid performance in a Roland Garros final, Rafael Nadal became the first man since the great Bjorn Borg to win three straight crowns when he wore out top-ranked Roger Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.
“It's an incredible dream to be able to play this well in front of such a great crowd,” Nadal said.
Still undefeated in Paris, the tireless, speedy Spaniard never withered under Federer's aggressive attack, daring the Swiss to go up, around and over his impenetrable defensive wall. While Federer did everything within his power to try and confuse the Spaniard, he was unable to consistently get the remarkably focused Spaniard off balance.
Unable to produce enough winners
Nadal set the tone early in the contest, playing deep and relentless shots, pounding into Federer's backhand and waiting patiently for his openings. While Federer weaker backhand side did not exactly break down, he was unable to produce enough winners off of it and nearly every time that the Spaniard gained control of an exchange with his heavy topspin forehand, Nadal cashed in.
Moreover, even when he gained break point opportunities, Federer was unable to find the right combinations to trip up Nadal, who appeared to be revelling in the opportunity to participate in the high-risk moments. Federer ended the contest having taken only one of his 17 break-point chances.
The 10-time Grand Slam champion often wowed the crowd with brilliant shot-making, but point in, point out, Nadal was much more solid.
After going down in a grinding first set, Federer's high variety attack showed through in the second set, as he began to mix in low backhand slices, net rushes and rapid-fire forehands. Nadal continued to push the Swiss hard, though, forcing him to use five set points to grab the set, which Federer won on a forehand error by the Spanish No.2 seed.
Nadal adeptly mixed up his serves
The Swiss had to work so hard to win the second that he looked mentally tired coming out in the third set, where he was immediately broken. With a break in hand, Nadal upped his level, yanking the Swiss all over the court until he took his legs out from under him. Nadal did not serve spectacularly well, but he adeptly mixed up his serves and consequently saw enough mid-court balls to be able to seize control of the points. The muscular lefty won the set when he crushed a forehand crosscourt winner.Federer again got himself in trouble at the opening of the fourth set when pressing on his forehand side, finding it impossible to penetrate the Spaniard. He dumped a forehand into the net and was broken to 1-2, at which point Nadal never looked back, throwing huge body blows at the Swiss. In typical Nadal fashion, he held at love to win the title when Federer flew a forehand long.
"I wanted to play on his backhand at first but I had to change my tactic a little," explained Nadal. "I hit my forehand down the line more and that worked. We kept putting the ball in a 20 centimetre zone but it was a high risk strategy, and we couldn’t keep that up for four sets. The turning point wasn’t the break points in the first set. But after the break in the fourth set, I knew I’d won.”
An incredible 21-0 mark at Roland Garros
The 21-year-old Nadal then fell on his back, squirmed in delight on his beloved red clay and eventually climbed up into the players' box, high-fiving the president of the Spanish Tennis Federation, Pedro Munoz, and hugging his coach and uncle Tony, as well as his parents.
Nadal now holds an incredible 21-0 mark at Roland Garros and finished the match with only 28 unforced errors to 60 from Federer. He was congratulated during trophy ceremony by three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, who won his first crown in Paris in 1997 and vowed to return next year.
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