As Rafael Nadal made his entrance for the French Open final, he could not have looked more at home in Paris had he carried a baguette under his arm instead of a tennis bag.
The place brings out the best in Nadal. He was at the top of his game again Sunday, when he won his fourth consecutive Roland Garros title and spoiled Roger Federer’s latest bid to complete a career Grand Slam.
The victory was widely anticipated, but the score surprised even the king of clay: 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. It was Federer’s worst loss in his 173 Grand Slam matches, and the most lopsided men’s Grand Slam final since 1984.
The second-ranked Nadal improved to 28-0 at Roland Garros and became the second man to win four consecutive French Open titles. Bjorn Borg did it in 1978-81.
The latest title run was Nadal’s most impressive yet. He swept all 21 sets while losing only 41 games.
And he routed the world’s top-ranked player, winning six consecutive games early in the match and sweeping the final nine games.
For the fourth consecutive year in Paris, Federer was trying 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.
When Nadal closed out the victory, his celebration was muted. He briefly raised his arms and walked to the net, where he and Federer put their arms around each other.
Federer’s hold on the No. 1 ranking remains firm, even with his Grand Slam title total stalled at 12, two shy of Pete Sampras’ record. Federer’s last major championship came in September at the U.S. Open.
He’ll try to rebound from the drubbing when he begins a bid for his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title in two weeks.
Federer has lost eight matches already this year, one shy of his total for all of 2007. Nadal’s uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, said Federer appeared out of sorts in the final.
By the fourth game, Federer was kicking the clay in frustration. By the second set, he was screaming at himself. By the third set, he couldn’t even win a game.
The last time Federer lost a set at love was in 1999, when he was not yet a top-50 player.
An early stretch in the match was just as lopsided. Nadal won 24 of 27 points to take a 2-0 lead in the second set.
Federer appeared a little desperate as he tried various tactics to reverse the tide. When he 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.
But dueling from the baseline was fruitless for Federer. Nadal simply covers too much ground to make that a fair fight.
The only man to win more French Open titles was six-time champion Borg, who watched the final from the first row. The Swede totaled 11 major titles but was 0-4 in finals at the U.S. Open, so he could identify with Federer’s perennial frustration at Roland Garros.
