Roland Garros Final: Staring into the Sun

There's good reason to not stare directly into the sun, just as there's good reason to break out in a cold sweat at the notion of facing Rafael Nadal on the terre battue of Roland Garros.

"The more a man can forget, the greater the number of metamorphoses which his life can undergo; the more he can remember, the more divine his life becomes." - Søren Kierkegaard

Both Nadal and Roger Federer arrived in Paris in roles that they haven't been accustomed to in quite some time. For the first time since they became a two-headed slam-winning monster over the last seven years -- they were assured before the singles final of this RG of claiming 24 of 28 slam titles going back to Wimbledon '04 -- they weren't the talk of the men's draw starting on Day 1. At Roland Garros, that honor went to Novak Djokovic, the Serb who came to town undefeated since December, 7-0 against Nadal and Federer this season and within arm's reach of becoming the 25th man ranked #1 on the ATP computer. But Djokovic didn't make it to the final, having seen his 43-match winning streak brought to a stunning halt by Federer in the semifinals, a win that ensured that Nadal would hold onto his #1 ranking for a bit longer.

Well, unless Federer beat him in the final.

After having stunningly been nearly judged an "afterthought" as the #3 seed two weeks ago, Federer entered his fourth career RG final match-up with Nadal harboring the belief that he might be able to pull off the accomplishment. Despite having not played in a slam final in over a year, and not having faced Nadal in Paris since being throttled in the '08 final (a 6-1/6-3/6-0 loss for which Rafa apologized after the match), Federer had reason to believe, too. He'd only lost one set in the tournament, and the faster balls being used at the the '11 event seemed to have played to his strengths. Add to that the notion that Nadal had looked human this clay court season more often than usual -- mostly against Djokovic, against whom he'd gone 0-3, but also while winning his first career five-set match at RG in the 1st Round against John Isner, and at times in the matches that followed. After publicly being resigned weeks ago that his hold on the #1 ranking would soon be relinquished in favor of Djokovic, Nadal said during the tournament that he wasn't playing well enough to tie Bjorn Borg's record and claim his sixth career Roland Garros title. The closer the Spaniard got to the final, though, the better he played. But would it be enough against a reinvigorated 29-year old Federer, embracing his underdog role and looking more and more like his "old self" rather than his "old" self with potentially his career's grandest achievement just one win away from becoming a reality?

Federer jumped out to an early lead on Nadal in the opening set. So much so that he almost seemed to be "coasting" to a 1st set win. Maybe he believed that to be so, too. In retrospect, it might have been just enough to put his lead in jeopardy. In essense, he ventured too close to the sun, only to get burned.

Things looked good for Federer for a while. In Nadal's first service game, the 16-time slam winner from Switzerland finally put away a break on his fourth opportunity when his opponent netted a forehand that put Federer up 2-0. With Nadal's always-troubling lefty forehand not kicking up off the terre battue to Federer's backhand as high as it generally does, and with Federer making a point to step in and take such shots earlier, he sidestepped trouble and went ahead 5-2. In game #8, Federer held a set point on Nadal's serve, but rather than take a clean groundstroke cut at a ball in an attempt for a set-securing winner, Federer attempted a drop shot. It just missed catching the right sideline, and even if it had landed in he likely would have had to return a get from a scrambling Nadal. At the time and afterward, it was easy to wonder why Federer decided to pull out one of the many touch shots in his repertoire when something straightforward might have proven to be more effective. Perhaps because he thought he had enough of a cushion at 5-2 to take the chance? Maybe.

If he did make the wrong choice, he would soon pay dearly for it. It lit Rafa's fire. Nadal held the game to get to 5-3, then carved out his first break point of the match in the next. He converted it with a running down the line forehand from behind the baseline that bounced off a reaching-for-a-volley Federer's racket and into the net for 5-4. After Nadal held for 5-5, Federer's near-servcie ace down the "T" was called wide, then he netted a forehand after getting in a second serve. It gave Nadal the break for 6-5. The Spaniard then served out the "stolen" set at 7-5, winning his fifth straight game when he put away a forehand winner.

Federer was slow to get over the disappointment of the blown set, and fell down an early break at 3-1 in the 2nd. He after he saved three break points to hold for 3-2, with the crowd behind him, he got a break to get back on serve at 4-4 when Nadal couldn't get back a Federer return. But Nadal immediately broke back, going up 5-4 as Federer let out a audible sign as it appeared as if a two sets to none hole was imminent.

But the rain saved him, albeit briefly.

After a nine-minute rain delay, Nadal failed to convert his second set point, and Federer got to break point at the end of a long rally. When Nadal framed a forehand, Federer got the break to knot things at 5-5 as the two headed for an eventual tie-break. There, though, it was Nadal who jumped ahead 3-0. A Federer crosscourt forehand error later and it was 4-0. He closed to within 4-2, but then missed a forehand return. Federer nearly framed an overhead shot that ultimately landed softly in the backcourt, setting up nicely for Nadal to pound a backhand crosscourt winner to go up 6-2. He won the tie-break 7-3 and had a two-set lead.

As the 3rd set progressed, Nadal seemed to be breezily walking to the title. He took a 4-2 lead and the virtual "countdown" began. Only Federer didn't cooperate. He managed to get his foot in the door, stealing away a break to get to 4-3, then carried over his momentum to get another for 6-5. He won the set 7-5 and threatened to make a match of things. But Nadal didn't let it happen.

After having seen Federer take advantage of a slight dip in this play and concentation, Nadal beared down and took care of business in workmanlike fashion. He was quickly up 4-1, and this time Federer never got close to finding an opening. When Federer's backhand fell short of the net, all hope was essentially gone as Nadal went up 5-1. The Spaniard easily served out the final game for a 7-5/7-6/5-7/6-1 win and fell to his knees behind the baseline after Federer's final shot sailed long.

The closeness of the match made it the best of the five played between Nadal and Federer in Paris, but once Nadal gained his footing in the contest his path to extending his career RG mark to 45-1 with six titles over the last seven years was fairly direct. If Federer had won the 1st set that had seemed well within his grasp, things might have been different. But who knows?

Nadal's title ties him with Borg for the most in Roland Garros history, with his sixth crown coming just two days after celebrating his 25th birthday. It's the same age that Borg was when he lifted HIS sixth Coupe des Mousquetaires. While Borg never played another match in Paris after winning his final title in '81, Nadal's career end would seem to be nowhere near being within sight. His tenth career slam makes him the seventh man with double-digit major titles, and brings him to within one of tying Borg and Laver, and two from being behind only Federer and Pete Sampras on the all-time list. With sixteen slams under his belt, Federer will likely spend the rest of his career feeling the hot breath of Nadal on his neck as their respective slam totals get closer and closer. If Nadal does eventually surpass him, today will be a good example of why. For while Federer is no longer a "lock" to win more titles at Wimbledon and will have to scratch out however many more slams he might win, Nadal is still without equal in Paris for the near-future and would seem to have at least two or three more RG titles in the cards before he turns 30 and time (and injuries) finally catch up with him. Djokovic seemed as if he might be capable of rising above him in '11, but it didn't turn out to be the case. Not yet, at least.

However the numbers eventually play out, Nadal and Federer will forever be inextricably linked in tennis lore, measured against each other in historical terms as they have so often been in their primes. Today was their eighth slam final match-up (the most ever), and nineteenth overall final (one off the ATP record). But could this final turn out to be their LAST in a slam? Maybe. But probably not, if we're lucky. We could very well see them face each other again in a month at Wimbledon, where they've met in three finals and shared the last eight titles. But they've only faced off in one of the last nine slam finals, so any one could be the last from here on out. Both have and will continued to undergo changes throughout the next few years, with their statuses likely both rising and falling and maybe rising one final time before they're through. Divine as their presences have been on the tennis landscape, nothing lasts forever.

So savor today, and the reality that neither man seems intent to be going anywhere any time soon. Even when they're no longer together, though, they'll still be together forever... and everyone who attempts to follow them might be the ones forever staring into the sun.



*CAREER SLAM SINGLES TITLES - MEN*
16...ROGER FEDERER
14...Pete Sampras
12...Roy Emerson
11...Bjorn Borg
11...Rod Laver
10...RAFAEL NADAL
10...Bill Tilden

*MOST RG TITLES - SINCE 1925*
6...Bjorn Borg (1974-75,1978-81)
6...RAFAEL NADAL (2005-08,2010-11)
4...Henri Cochet (1926,28,30,32)
3...Gustavo Kuerten (1997,2000-01)
3...Ivan Lendl (1984,1986-87)
3...Rene Lacoste (1925,27,29)
3...Mats Wilander (1982,85,88)

*BEST ALL-TIME RG WIN PERCENTAGE - MEN*
97.8% - RAFAEL NADAL, 2005-11 (45-1)
96.1% - Bjorn Borg, 1973-81 (49-2)

*CAREER RG FINALS*
6...Bjorn Borg
6...RAFAEL NADAL
5...Henri Cochet
5...Jaroslav Drobny
5...ROGER FEDERER
5...Rene Lacoste
5...Ivan Lendl
5...Mats Wilander

*MOST RG FINAL LOSSES IN CAREER*
4...ROGER FEDERER (2006-08,2011)
3...Jaroslav Drobny (1946,1948,1950)
3...Guillermo Vilas (1975,1978,1982)

*CAREER ATP SINGLES TITLES*
109...Jimmy Connors
94...Ivan Lendl
77...John McEnroe
67...ROGER FEDERER
64...Pete Sampras
62...Bjorn Borg
62...Guillermo Vilas
60...Andre Agassi
57...Ilie Nastase
49...Boris Becker
47...Rod Laver
46...RAFAEL NADAL

*2011 ATP FINALS*
7...Novak Djokovic (7-0)
7...RAFAEL NADAL (3-4)
4...Nicolas Almagro (3-1)
4...David Ferrer (2-2)
3...Robin Soderling (3-0)
3...ROGER FEDERER (1-2)





All for now.

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