Stay back and rally? Definitely not. Nadal was too quick, too powerful and too steady, with unforced errors creeping in as rarely as sunshine during this tournament.
Why not attack the net? More sensible indeed, yet Nadal’s dipping passing shots were so precise, so forceful that they kept requiring the swooping Swiss to dig balls out of the dirt or twist his neck — smoothly, of course — to watch a winner land on the sideline or the baseline.
No, the answer for the millions of Federer fans worldwide who would like nothing better than for their man to win the only Grand Slam singles title he lacks was that there was no solution available to Federer in his current state of form and Nadal’s current state of grace.
In a final that rarely resembled anything other than one-way traffic, Nadal was at his clay-covering, forehand-whipping finest as he won his fourth straight French Open by beating up on the erratic, increasingly dispirited Federer.
The stunning final score — 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 — was the most lopsided result in a major men’s final since John McEnroe also surrendered just four games against Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon in 1984.
“I was walking out worrying about losing; it would have been impossible to imagine it would turn out like this,” Nadal said. “I think I played an almost perfect match, and Roger made more mistakes than usual.”
The victory was the finishing touch on one of the most dominant performances in Grand Slam history. The left-handed Nadal, whose record at Roland Garros is now 28-0, did not lose a set in this tournament. The last man to do that here was the Swedish champion Bjorn Borg in 1980, and Borg is also the only other man to win four straight singles title in Paris.
Borg, his blond hair now gone gray, was in the front row of the president’s box for the entirety of this 1-hour-48-minute rout, and he later awarded Nadal the Coupe des Mousquetaires, which is beginning to seem like a formality in Paris.
“I would have hoped, of course, to get more today than four games,” Federer said in French in a quiet, slightly sheepish voice as he addressed the crowd. “But Rafa is really very, very strong this year. He dominated this tournament like perhaps never before. Like Bjorn. He deserves this title.”
The defeat was Federer’s most lopsided loss in any Grand Slam match in his career and marked the fewest games he has won in any match — best-of-three or best-of-five — since losing to David Nalbandian, 6-2, 6-1, in the second round in Monte Carlo in 2002.
It was also the latest disappointment in a season in which Federer’s pre-eminence in men’s tennis has been consistently usurped. His only title this year came in a minor clay-court event in Estoril, Portugal.
Losing to Nadal on clay in Paris was no surprise. Federer was beaten by Nadal in the semifinals in 2005 and the final in 2006 and 2007. But Federer managed to win at least one set in those matches before Nadal wore him down.
This time, however, Federer had more than twice as many unforced errors as winners. And Nadal was quite obviously on a higher plane, making just seven unforced errors — total — as he controlled the rallies with his wicked spin and grunting athleticism and ripped big holes in Federer’s plan of attack, which was at times difficult to discern.
Nadal now leads their head-to-head series, 11-6, and has won 9 of their 10 matches on clay.
“I definitely think he’s improved,” Federer said. “He’s much better on defense, much better on offense. When you really cannot play your game and he can play exactly what he wants from the baseline, well, you end up with scores like this sometimes. It’s tough for the opponent, obviously.”
Disappointing, too, for the celebrities who piled into the Philippe Chatrier Court in the hopes of seeing a Federer-Nadal classic. The mood as the gladiators walked on court was festive, with the top-seeded Federer receiving by far the louder ovation.
But Nadal very quickly asserted himself, breaking Federer’s serve in the first game. He then held his own with difficulty in the next. After Federer held to 2-1, Nadal proceeded to reel off 22 of the next 25 points.
Federer did briefly change the tone, breaking the Spaniard in the third game of the second set to get back on serve. The crowd, eager for a contest, chanted Federer’s first name at 2-2, but the reality was that all he had done was hold his serve. Something extra special, perhaps extraterrestrial, was required, and Federer’s only chance to truly begin rebuilding came when he had a break point with Nadal serving at 3-3 against the wind.
But Nadal won that long exchange with a drop shot that Federer reached with his backhand but knocked in the net. Federer did not know it yet, but he would not win another game with Nadal taking nine in a row. As Federer’s errors piled up down the stretch, there were boos and whistles from the crowd.
Nadal, clearly sensitive to the situation, kept his celebration to a respectful minimum. After Federer’s last forehand approach sailed long, Nadal simply raised both arms and smiled before shuffling to the net to shake Federer’s hand.
“First of all, I don’t prepare my celebrations; I do them as I feel them,” Nadal said. “In the other years I won in four sets, they were closer than this one. This time, there were no moments of maximum tension. And considering my relationship with Roger, it seemed like the right way to go about it.”
