Fourth all-Spanish final at Roland Garros (previous three occurred in 1994, 1998 & 2002). There were some factors which could have allowed to expect the underdog wouldn’t be chance-less: Ferrer spent six hours fewer (!) on courts en route to the final, besides the weather was ugly (almost the entire final was played in a drizzle; 16 Celsius) so the favorite couldn’t generate the enormous spin with his forehand. But… Nadal is never tired and he wins on clay so many matches in different conditions that the most important factor at the beginning of the final was simply one: his “head to head” against four years older compatriot (19-4, including eight straight wins, three this year). There are not too many similarly lopsided rivalries in the Open Era # Andre Agassi correctly pointed out before the final, they play the same type of tennis, they are like two boxers, but the difference is that one of them combats in the heavyweight while the other in a lighter weight… The first-time major finalist Ferrer wasn’t tense, he started strongly 
holding the opening game at ‘love’. He led 3:2* in the 1st set when Nadal stepped up winning seven games in a row. There were three longest games of the final in the mid-2nd set (4, 4 and 2 deuces respectively) – Nadal won two out of three, and he was serving for a two sets lead at 5:1 – then a protester with flare jumped down from the stands running towards Rafa (something like this happened for the second time in the last four years in the Parisian final), but was quickly removed by bodyguards. Perhaps that incident distracted the King of Clay a bit because he lost his serve at 15. Afterwards he won three games in a row though, dropping just one point in the process. Ferrer, like in the two preceding sets, managed to get a break and even had a break point at 3-all, however, he couldn’t convert it sending a forehand long, and Nadal took the last three games finishing the tournament with a blistering inside-out forehand in an equilibristic position. A moment later he fell down on the court covering face with hands to celebrate his two new records: eighth French Open crown (no-one had won so many majors in one city before) ## and 59th win in Paris! “The feeling on court was great. The matches against David are always difficult,” Nadal said. “I think the score is 
much easier than what the match was today. I think for moments I played great. I think a few moments in the match, I played at very, very high level.” The Mallorcan has now claimed 57 titles, including 12 majors which moves him on the third place in the Open Era behind Roger Federer (17) and Pete Sampras (14). “To beat Rafael [on a] clay court, I need to play more aggressive,” said Ferrer. “I need to finish the points at the net and play my best tennis to beat him. But when the court is slower, it’s very difficult. He has more power than me with his shots and it’s very difficult to beat him.” After the 7-month sabbatical, Nadal is enjoying the best season of his extraordinary career; he has played in nine finals this year capturing seven titles, and currently is on a 22-match winning streak! He hasn’t actually any points to defend to the end of the season, so if he stays healthy, very likely he finishes the year as the best player in the world for the third time in career (previously di it in 2008 and 2010). Stats of the final.You must be logged in to post a comment.
First player in history with 9 consecutive seasons with Grand Slam title won… Borg, Sampras and Federer left on 8