Nadal revels in his greatest Paris triumph
SPANIARD Rafael Nadal believes his sixth French Open title success ranks as his finest accomplishment on clay due to the number of hardships he was forced to overcome to win it.
The world No1 defeated long-time rival Roger Federer in four high quality sets 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-1 to equal Bjorn Borg’s record of Roland Garros crowns and ensure he will head the world rankings going into Wimbledon.
Nadal has proven to be without equal on clay for the best part of seven years but his aura of invincibility has been lessened since the turn of the year with injuries and the emergence of Novak Djokovic threatening his dominance.
He was two sets down in the opening round against American John Isner, struggled through the rest of the opening week and went on record with his belief that he wasn’t playing well enough to defend his crown.
But the 25-year-old was back to his best against Federer, who slipped to his fourth French Open final defeat at the hands of Nadal.
“To win this kind of title is always satisfying,” said the Spaniard who heads to London for the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club which starts today. “But sometimes when you fight a lot to win, when you try your best in every moment to change the situation, it makes the title more special.
“For example, in 2008 I think I played better than ever, but I finished the tournament and I didn’t feel that I won Roland Garros because I won in three sets every round.”
Federer was back in a grand slam final for the first time since the Australian Open last year, and he was pleased with his display, although he knew the chances had been there for it to be so much better.
He said: “It was tough all the way through. I thought we played at a very high level and I was pretty happy with the way I played today.
“I don’t have huge complaints but obviously there were some missed opportunities, because you’ll always have plenty against him on clay. So if you lose, you always look at those.
“Overall I’m very happy about the tournament. Obviously you should be disappointed after losing in a grand slam final like this. I feel that a little bit today.”