Unflappable and unbeatable against anyone else, Roger Federer
looked helpless at times Sunday, his bid for a fourth consecutive
Grand Slam title disappearing in the clouds of clay kicked up by
Rafael Nadal.
Over and over, for three hours and with the temperature at 90,
Nadal scampered and skidded his way to reach seemingly unreachable
balls. Going long stretches without a mistake, No. 2-ranked Nadal
beat No. 1 Federer 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to win his second
straight French Open title.
"I won the first set easily, and usually in a situation like
that I don't let things go by. But it's a final. It's against
Nadal. It's on clay," Federer said. "That makes it very difficult
?a more difficult maybe than other cases."
His 27-match winning streak at majors ended. Nadal's 60-match
winning streak on red clay lives.
So consider this: Nadal is now 6-1 against Federer over their
careers. And this: Federer is 0-4 against the Spaniard in 2006,
44-0 against everyone else.
Nadal also is the first player to beat Federer in a Grand Slam
final. The Swiss entered Sunday 7-0 in that category, the best such
start to a career since the 1880s.
"I can't say I'm better than him. Since I was born, I've never
seen a more complete player. He's the best," Nadal said. "Maybe he
was nervous, too. Roger was playing today for being on the top of
history. This pressure is a lot, no?"
Federer was trying to join Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962,
1969) as the only men to win Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open
and French Open championships all in a row. He also had a chance to
become the sixth man with a career Grand Slam.
But it was Nadal who deposited a forehand volley to end the
match, then slid onto his back on the clay and spread his arms and
legs, as if to make a snow angel. After they shook hands, Federer
sank in his seat, residue of the red dirt smearing his white
headwrap.
"I tried. I can't do more than try," Federer said. "But having
this real unique opportunity that we haven't seen in such a long
time in tennis. obviously, it's a pity."
It was the first French Open final pitting men seeded 1-2 since
1984, but the play never really lived up to the hype, particularly
in the surprisingly lopsided first two sets. Still, it was an
intriguing contrast in styles and personalities that created a
competing fugue of "Ro-ger! Ro-ger!" and "Ra-fa! Ra-fa!" chants at
changeovers.
Nadal's "Ugh-ahhh!" grunt on nearly every shot, sounding angry
at the ball. Federer's barely perceptible exhale.
Nadal's baseline excellence. Federer's volleying.
Nadal's left-handed topspin. Federer's right-handed variety.
It's actually that last one that might be most responsible for
the one-sided nature of the emerging rivalry, for Nadal's
high-bouncing forehands make things tough on Federer's backhand,
already his weakest shot.
On Sunday, Federer made 24 unforced errors with his backhand. He
finished with 51 miscues in all, 23 more than the steadier
Nadal.
"I suppose this was not Federer's best game, because if it were,
he would have won, no doubt," said Nadal's coach and uncle,
Toni.
Federer sure looked great at the start, racing to a 5-0 lead by
breaking Nadal in each of his first two service games. Remarkably,
though, Federer wouldn't break again until Nadal served for the
match at 5-4 in the fourth set.
In the third set, Nadal used a 114 mph kick serve for an ace to
erase the last of four break points in the fourth game. Then he
broke to a 3-2 lead with the help of two telling points.
Nadal slid and stretched to send a hard shot back, able to
muster only a weak lob. Aware of his foe's range, Federer looked
for Nadal, then shanked an overhead long. Nadal broke when Federer
roamed two steps outside the doubles alley to run around his
troublesome backhand and hit a forehand that wound up in the
net.
"I improved in my confidence," Nadal said. "I was thinking, 'Now
is my chance.'"
The backs of Nadal's sneakers have yellow block letters that
read "Vamos" on the left and "Rafa" on the right, and they were
always moving Sunday. Nadal bounced in place, working himself into
a lather, while waiting to be introduced to the crowd. He jumped on
his toes right in Federer's face during the coin toss. He sprinted
to the baseline for the warmup period. And that was nothing
compared to what he did when the ball was in play.
"He makes it tough," Federer said, "and I guess, in the end, he
deserves to win."
In the middle two sets, Nadal was downright superb, making only
six unforced errors while keeping points going long enough that
Federer made 29.
Nadal, who turned 20 during the tournament, is the youngest man
to win a second straight French Open since Bjorn Borg was 19 in
1975.
How did he do it?
"A bit of luck, a bit of tennis, a bit of mental attitude.
Federer made more mistakes than usual," Nadal said. "All these
things together."
Federer, meanwhile, is left to ponder what he can do to add the
only major missing from his resume. He spoke before the tournament
about wanting to avoid the fate of Pete Sampras, who won a record
14 Grand Slam titles but whose best French Open run was to the 1996
semifinals. Sampras' age at the time? The same as Federer's now,
24.
"I was ready to put him at the top if he were to win this,"
seven-time major champion John McEnroe said during NBC's broadcast,
"but he's got some work to do."
?
(AP via China Daily June 12, 2006)