Help
© Tennistalk.com
|
|
© Tennistalk.com
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
6/8/08 7:06 PM | Cheryl Murray
Spaniard Rafael Nadal equaled Bjorn Borg's record of four consecutive French Open titles with a convincing victory over Roger Federer.
Hopes ran high for this final. Roger Federer seemed to have found the right tactic (though admittedly not executed to completion) in Hamburg and Monte Carlo. The game plan was to play aggressive tennis, to hit tough approach shots, volley winners and incredible drop shots. Federer executed exactly none of those tactics on Sunday.
The match started off poorly for the Swiss number one. Nadal broke in the first service game, mostly due to errors off the Federer racket. Federer had two break points of his own on Nadal's first service game. On the first, Nadal drew Federer in, forcing an error long. He saved another in the second deuce game with a vicious forehand. It would be the last opportunity for the Swiss in the set. With Federer serving at 1-3, he appeared to crack a bit under the pressure of the Nadal return. He failed to get a single first serve in, and was broken at love. Another break at 1-5 gave Nadal a first set breadstick.
Federer looked as though he was ready to clean up his game in the second set and make a match of it. After going down a break, Federer broke back to level the set on an excellent volley winner. He had one more chance to break Nadal's serve at 3-3, but his volleying let him down. Nadal never looked back from that point. On his fourth break chance at 3-4 on Federer's serve, he hit a ridiculous passing shot to secure the break. He served out the second set with a minimum of fuss.
Nadal quite simply smothered his opponent in the third set. There would be no “bad game” like he'd had in his semi-final match against Djokovic. Nadal stomped through the set in 27 minutes and never gave Federer a sniff at a game. He handed Federer his first set lost at love since 1999.
Explaining the match away as one that Federer lost would be unfair to Rafael Nadal. He played other-worldly tennis. There is not a player alive that would have come close to Nadal with him playing that way. He made an incredible 7 unforced errors in all three sets. His claim that if he plays his tennis well on clay, he will win was proven in spades in this final. All eyes will be watching Nadal on grass again this year to see if he can translate his game once again at Wimbledon. After Sunday's performance, once feels that anything is possible - even the Roland Garros/Wimbledon double.
Federer says he took a tough loss to Nadal.
Rafael Nadal proved with out a shadow of a doubt that he is without peers on the dirt.
Roger Federer seemed to give up in the second. Even the Federer-crazy French booed his effort.
Tell a friend »
Expected blowout.
RickyDimon , 6/8/08 9:56 PM
While I might have expected a victory for Nadal, I certainly wasn't anticipating a breadstick and a bagel.
cherylmurray , 6/8/08 10:55 PM
This final is the most anticipated match of the tournament! Everyone was disappointed with the way Federer played and not at all surprised that Rafa earned his 4th consecutive FO. This match has just underscored the level of expertise that Nadal have acquired on clay. The quality of players that he humiliated this year can all share the same experience.
HE is the master of this surface... the all time king of clay!
agf25agf , 6/8/08 11:47 PM
I was there to see it today, and oh my god what a washout. Right now it feels like it's going to take a superhuman effort by Federer in order for him to redeem himself for the grass-court season. I don't think that Federer necessarily played poorly, it was just all about Nadal. Federer wasn't even helped by his first serve today, Nadal just returned it with interest. This has to be Federer's most humiliating loss ever!
ricfol , 6/9/08 1:04 AM
Ricfol, I'm sorry that you didn't get a fantastic match for the final. It was, indeed all about Nadal today. I thought I heard the crowd actual whistle at Federer, which was shocking. Did I hear properly?
cherylmurray , 6/9/08 3:01 AM
Cheryl, I'm not completely sure about the whistleing, I think the whistleing may have been when Nadal received a time violation warning. I cannot believe how well Nadal read Federer's serve, I think I read somewhere that Federer merely won 48 percent of his first serve points, which is a schocking number.
ricfol , 6/9/08 10:36 AM
whistling aside, when were they BOOING?!?!?!?!? I never heard that.....
RickyDimon , 6/9/08 1:42 PM
Agree Ricky, never heard any booing either.
ricfol , 6/9/08 2:12 PM
I am pretty sure I heard them boo/whistle at the end of the second set when Federer was broken on yet another unforced error. It was a shocking final, all things considered.
cherylmurray , 6/9/08 2:14 PM
nothing a little TiVo can't solve...
...although I'm pretty sure I deleted it due to how bad the match was!!!
RickyDimon , 6/9/08 2:21 PM
I think it's somewhat the same scenario as the last couple of years, with Nadal looking invincible after the clay court season and Federer looking like he is gonna have a nervous breakdown, although Nadal has looked far more supreme this year and Federer has had a very shaky first six months. The real interesting thing this year I think is whether Nadal will be able to push through also after Wimbledon into the US Open. I mean Nadal has in the past at least run out of gas after the Wimbledon. If Nadal can continue into the grass court season and hard court season playing as close to the baseline as he did in the final against Federer he will be a handful for anyone. If Federer somehow manages to win the Wimbledon I think he has a chance of pulling through and also win the US Open, otherwise he is smoked.
ricfol , 6/9/08 2:34 PM
I would wager a guess that Nadal will have a very different summer if he is able to win Wimbledon this year. Last year, he was quite obviously gutted from coming so very close to the title, only to lose in the end. If he hoists it, he might actually be a factor during the summer hc season. If not, it's going to be 06 and 07 all over again. It would be nice for Rafa if he could make a little noise during the N. American HC swing. I don't see him getting anywhere near Nole on hards though.
cherylmurray , 6/9/08 3:57 PM
you might be right.i thought for a long time that rafa had developed a final complex after that wimbledon final.winning a wimbledon title does make him feel much much better and he will be more confident in hard court season.
apart from that,french crowd really sucks.i didn't hear booing but they never applauded rafa properly even after his fantastic points,not just in the final but throughout the whole tournament.
sisterofnight12 , 6/10/08 7:22 AM
Did you know that... Roger Federer didn’t lose a single set during the Australian Open in 2005.
janhavi, Nov 21, 2008 1:53 PM
janhavi, Nov 21, 2008 5:53 AM
james007, Nov 21, 2008 3:46 AM
Avalaine, Nov 20, 2008 9:06 PM
james007, Nov 20, 2008 8:03 AM
gordana, Nov 21, 2008 9:50 AM
tennisfan2, Nov 12, 2008 4:24 AM
elle, Nov 10, 2008 2:11 AM
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
French Open
Contact us
/ About us
/ Cookies
/ Recommended links
/ Advertise
/ Sitemap
Tennistalk v1.3.0
Vamos Rafa!! Wimbledon is going to be VERY interesting!! :-)
RafaNadalGirl20 , 6/8/08 7:26 PM