Spain's Nadal wins French Open
PARIS The drubbing went on from there. Nadal won his fourth
consecutive French Open title in a rout Sunday, again spoiling
Federer's bid to complete a career Grand Slam.
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Dominating the world's No. 1 player with astounding ease, Nadal
swept six consecutive games early in the match and swept the final
nine games to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
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It was Federer's worst loss in his 173 Grand Slam matches, and
the shortest Roland Garros men's final in terms of games since
1977.
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So thorough was the thumping that during the trophy ceremony,
Nadal was moved to apologize.
"Roger, I'm sorry for the final," Nadal said.
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For the No. 2-ranked Nadal, it was merely another in a series of
dominating victories. He lost only 41 games in seven rounds.
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"I've hoped I could have done better today than four games,"
Federer said. "But Rafael was very strong this year."
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The Spaniard became the second man to win four consecutive
French Open titles. Bjorn Borg did it in 1978-81.
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"Winning four times in a row is incredible," Nadal said.
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He improved to 28-0 at Roland Garros, where he has won 83 of 90
sets. Only six-time champion Borg won more French Open men's
titles.
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And Nadal became the first man since Borg in 1980 to win the
tournament without dropping set.
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"He dominated the tournament like never before, like Bjorn,"
Federer said.
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Borg watched the final from the front row. Much of the crowd
rooted for Federer, who arrived in Paris for the fourth consecutive
year seeking to become the sixth man to win all four major titles.
Each time he has lost to Nadal - in the semifinals in 2005, and in
the final each of the past three years.
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Federer conceded the latest defeat shakes his belief he can win
Roland Garros.
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"After a loss like this, you don't want to play Rafa again
tomorrow, that's for sure," Federer said.
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Fans chanted "Ro-ger! Ro-ger!" between games, but Nadal earned
their cheers, too. He won 24 of 27 points to take a 2-0 lead in the
second set as a desperate Federer tried everything to reverse the
tide.
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But when Federer played serve-and-volley on a second serve,
Nadal lunged to hit a lob into the corner for a winner. When
Federer tried to chip and charge off a return, Nadal passed him
with a backhand.
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And when Federer settled for playing from the baseline, he had
little chance. It's tough to hit shots where the relentless Nadal
can't reach them, and Federer probably tried too hard, with
uncharacteristic errors flying from his racket.
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"When you really cannot play your game, and he can play exactly
what he wants from the baseline, you end up with scores like this
sometimes," Federer said. "He hardly made unforced errors, and
when he's on the attack, he's lethal."
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Federer faced a break point in 10 of his 11 service games, and
he held only three times. Nadal was particularly ruthless returning
second serves, and he won 19 of those 24 points.
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Federer did gain a toehold in the second set when he won
consecutive games for the only time for 2-all, but he lost serve
again at 3-4. On break point he hit a deep volley that would win
most rallies, but Nadal ripped it for a winner.
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For Federer, the worst came at the end - a 6-0 set loss. The
last time that happened to him was on a slightly smaller stage: the
first round in 1999 at Queen's against Byron Black.
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On match point, Federer sailed a forehand long, and Nadal raised
his arms in triumph.
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"To lose the way I did today, it's obviously hard and it's a
rough loss, but it's OK," Federer said. "I'll move on from here,
and I'll try again next year."
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Nadal improved to 9-1 against Federer on clay, with the only
loss coming in the 2007 Hamburg final.
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Other statistics that underscore Nadal's dominance on the
surface: He's 22-1 in clay-court finals, and 41-0 in best-of-five
matches on clay.
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Federer fell to 12-3 in major finals, with all of the losses to
Nadal. They've met six times in Grand Slam events, and Nadal leads
4-2.
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Federer's far from alone in his French Open frustration. The
list of Grand Slam champions who never won the Roland Garros title
includes Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker
and Stefan Edberg.
