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PARIS—Early in the second set of the French Open final, not
quite halfway into what would wind up as Roger Federer’s
worst loss in 173 career Grand Slam matches, he watched
intently as Rafael Nadal pushed a forehand wide to end a
lengthy exchange.
Federer
saw the ball land out, punched the air and yelled.
Neither the exact words—English? French? Swiss
German?—nor the precise sentiment—delight? relief?—could
be discerned. That he would be so moved was noteworthy
in itself.
A man
who has won 12 major championships, who has been ranked
No. 1 a record 227 weeks in a row, who has placed
himself squarely in any discussion about the greatest
players in tennis history, found significance in the
winning of one measly point.
Why?
Because
Nadal so thoroughly, so untheatrically outplayed Federer
in every possible facet Sunday, beating him, 6-1, 6-3,
6-0, to win a fourth-consecutive title at Roland Garros.
During
the trophy ceremony following the most lopsided men’s
final at the French Open since 1977, and at any Grand
Slam since 1984, Nadal felt compelled to say: “Roger,
I’m sorry.”
“He
dominated from the first point until the end,” said
Federer, who hadn’t lost a 6-0 set since 1999, and
hadn’t won fewer than five games in a match since 2002.
“It’s the strongest Rafa that I’ve ever seen. He was
more dominant than the previous years.”
Federer,
much to his chagrin, is in perfect position to make that
comparison. For the fourth year running, he came to
Paris needing a French Open championship to complete a
career Grand Slam, something only five men have
accomplished.
In 2005,
Federer reached the semifinals, then lost to Nadal.
In 2006,
2007 and 2008, Fededer went a step further, reaching the
final, then came up short against his nemesis every
time.
Think of
it this way: Over the past four French Opens, Federer is
0-4 against Nadal, 23-0 against anyone else. Or this
way: Federer is a combined 12-0 in finals at Wimbledon
(beating Nadal the last two years), the US Open and the
Australian Open, and 0-3 in finals at the French Open.
“He no
longer plays short balls, the way he did in the past.
You can no longer attack him on his forehand, the way I
could in the past,” said Federer, now 6-11 overall
against Nadal, 1-9 on clay.
“He is
getting much more aggressive, and it’s becoming much
more difficult.” That said, Federer insisted afterward
he can win the clay-court major championship.
“I still
go out of this tournament with a positive mindset,” he
said. “Not with a mindset: ‘Oh my God, I had no chance
today.’”
That
might be. But had Federer figured out a way to win, it
would have been considered an upset. Sound silly? The
top-ranked player wins a match, and it’s an upset?
Well,
yes. Do not forget how invincible Nadal is on clay, and
at this tournament. He’s the first man since Bjorn Borg
in 1980 to win the French Open without dropping a set,
the first since Borg from 1978-81 to win the tournament
four years in a row.
Sunday’s
victory also makes Nadal: 28-0 for his career at the
French Open;
115-2 on clay since April 2005; 22-1 in clay-court
finals.
“I am
humble,” Nadal said, “but the numbers are the numbers.”
His
match statistics against Federer were stunning, the sort
that make you want to go back and reread them.
Nadal held break points in 10 of Federer’s 11 service
games, converting eight times. He won the point 24 of
the 42 times Federer went to the net. He won 16 of the
24 points that lasted 10 or more strokes, according to
an unofficial tally compiled by The Associated Press.
Most
tellingly, Federer finished with 35 unforced errors,
Nadal with seven. Yes, seven.
“When I
was playing,” Nadal said, “I didn’t believe the match is
like this.”
There
were times it seemed that Federer couldn’t figure out
how to play. Try serve-and-volley? Nadal picked the
perfect place for a passing shot. Try to hang behind the
baseline and trade groundstrokes? Nadal scrambled
around, playing defense, until the opportunity arose to
switch to offense, and with a grunt and an uppercut of a
forehand, the 22-year-old Spaniard would flick a winner.
Unlike,
for example, the 2007
Wimbledon final—filled with artistry and grit from both players until Federer won
in five sets—only Nadal played with elan Sunday.
“To lose
the way I did today—it’s obviously hard and it’s a rough
loss, but it’s OK,” Federer said, a blue baseball cap
pulled low over his eyes. “I’ll move forward from here,
and I’ll try again.”
Nadal
recognized it was not Federer’s finest day.
“If I am
playing my best tennis ever, I’m never going to win 6-1,
6-3, 6-0 against Roger Federer, no? For sure, it’s
impossible,” the second-ranked Nadal said. “He didn’t
play very well. Everybody knows that.”
For one
fleeting moment, Federer appeared to have a chance to
make things interesting. After breaking Nadal for the
only time, and later holding serve without facing a
break point for the only time, Federer pulled even in
the second set at 3-3. The match was an hour old, and
finally the tiniest hint of drama broke through the gray
clouds.
In the
next game, Nadal—gasp!—frittered away two forehands,
allowing Federer to get within one point of a 4-3 lead.
Nadal, however, brought it back to deuce, ending an
18-stroke point with a drop shot that Federer reached
but slapped into the net.
Federer
lost the following two points by missing forehands. And
that, essentially, was that. The man who stands two
Grand Slam titles shy of Pete Sampras’s record would not
win another game, losing the last nine.
“I don’t
know whether he didn’t have a good feel for his shots or
if he was overthinking,” said Nadal’s coach and uncle,
Toni. “What I see is that he’s missing a bit of
self-confidence. He never looked comfortable. Maybe it’s
a mental block.”
Could
be.
“To beat
Rafa on this type of surface, you need to play your best
tennis,” said Borg, who watched from a front-row seat.
“But Roger’s going to be back. And so will Rafa.”
Borg,
who thinks Nadal could break his mark of six French Open
titles, was among the tournament’s past champions who
stood on court Sunday during a prematch ceremony marking
the stadium’s 80th anniversary: Guillermo Vilas, Gustavo
Kuerten, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Mary Pierce and others
also were there.
Among
the uninvited, seeing as how they never won a singles
title at Roland Garros: Sampras, John McEnroe, Stefan
Edberg, Boris Becker.
His
outward optimism aside, Federer could be forgiven if,
deep down, he wonders whether he ever will be asked to
participate in such festivities, whether he ever will
get past Nadal at the French Open. Glum as he was after
the match, Federer already was thinking about 2009.
“I mean,
after a loss like this, you don’t want to play Rafa
again tomorrow, that’s for sure,” the 26-year-old
Federer said.
And yet, seconds later, he added: “Let’s see what
happens again next year.” AP |
