Rafael Nadal & Robin Soderling – 2010 French Open

Nadal claimed his 5th victory with a 6-4 6-2 6-4 win over his arch nemesis Solderling at the French Open final. The French Open final was all of seven points old, and the message was unmistakable: Nadal’s knees are fine now, which means he is an entirely different player from the one Soderling stunned at Roland Garros in 2009. That was the first loss of Nadal’s career at this tournament, and it remains the only one.  I think the song that goes well with this win is the song, “I Made It” by Kevin Rudolf. Some quick lyrics –

“I look up to the sky
And now the World is mine
Ive known it all my life
I made it, I made it!
I used to dream about, the life I’m living now
I know that theres no doubt.
I made it, I made it!”

Rafael Nadal biting 2010 French Open trophy

His body sound, his mind at ease, Nadal played his unique brand of relentless, perpetual-motion tennis to handily beat the No. 5-seeded Soderling of Sweden 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 Sunday. Nadal won his fifth French Open championship, his seventh Grand Slam title overall, and earned a return to No. 1. By winning all 3 clay Master’s 1000 tournaments plus Roland Garros, Rafa is now the only male in history to hold a ‘Clay Grand Slam”. Pretty impressive for only being 24 years old.

“I lost last year because I was not well-prepared, and I had very low morale last year, as well,” said Nadal, who will supplant Roger Federer atop the rankings Monday.

“But this time, I’m back,” said Nadal, who covered his face with a red towel and sobbed at match’s end. “I’m back—and I win.”

Yes, Nadal most definitely is back, and he is as good as—or perhaps even better than—ever.

Nadal, who suffered his only defeat at Roland Garros against the Swede in last year’s fourth round, clinched the win in two hours and 18 minutes and won the year’s second grand slam without losing a set in the tournament.

Enjoy watching some of the highlights

Roger Federer’s greatness is now becoming standarad fare – 2009 US Open

When someone achieves greatness for such a long time it doesn’t even make headlines anymore.  Fans of the tennis world expect the final of the 2009 US Open to be Federer VS ??????.   They just have to wait for the question marks to be figured out.  In fact this press conference from yesterday proves the point.

“It’s just not easy to win Slams. It’s just that simple,” Federer said before the room roared ith wlaughter. “OK, you might think I have a lot, but I played many matches before where I didn’t win, as well. And semis or finals just doesn’t give you the win yet. It’s a tough road, and you have to finish the deal and it’s a hard thing to do.”

Federer’s eventual undoing of Sweden’s Robin Soderling – heavy winds aside – from last night’s quarterfinal, 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6), turned dramatically competitive late but was a good enough exhibit for a small place in the Federer hall of masterpieces. It was Federer’s 12th-straight victory over the 12th-seeded Soderling.

Roger Soderling shakes hands with Roger Federer

Another title in Flushing Meadows would make Federer the first man since Bill Tilden in 1925 to win 6 straight U.S. titles, a comparison Federer called “fantastic” even as he reminded that he never saw Tilden – Tilden died 3 decades before Federer was born.
 

Federer’s march has gone largely unnoticed, as well, but his brilliant tennis will keep all eyes on his game this weekend. One aspect of his genius is his return of serve, notes Doug Robson in a USA Today analysis of men’s tennis trends. The return of serve has become the most important shot in modern men’s tennis, according to the study.

I was also reading yet another comparison between Roger Federer and Tiger Woods that said Tiger Woods was the greater athlete of his sport?  Why? Let’s compare the gap between Woods and Federer and the second-best player in their respective sports.  Woods has won 14 Grand Slam tournaments, and is within reach of Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18. Federer has 15 Grand Slam singles titles, the best in tennis history.

Rafael Nadal loses to Robin Soderling at the 2008 French Open

Rafael Nadal had seemed undefeatable at the French Open ever since he set foot on Parisian clay four years ago, but the world No 1’s unbeaten 31-match run on these courts was ended by an unheralded Swede who had never previously gone beyond the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. By the way Robin Soderling, looks alot like Lucas Scott on “One Tree Hill” in this picture.

Rafael Nadal screams after loss to Lucas Scott/Robin Soderling

The 24-year-old world No 25 beat the Spaniard 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 in arguably the greatest upset in the history of tennis.

For the last year it has been Nadal who has been breaking all the records. His 31 consecutive wins is an all-time record at the French Open, while this defeat ended his run of 48 unbeaten five-set matches on terre battue. The pink shirt he wore will no doubt be similarly consigned to history.

In his 31 previous matches at Roland Garros, Nadal had never been pushed to five sets in victory. He had not lost so much as a set in any match here since the 2007 final against Roger Federer, but Soderling changed all that with a varied but consistently aggressive approach: clubbing forehands with or without clear openings, serving big under pressure.