Rafael Nadal humiliates “old-man” Roger Federer; clinches sixth title here – French Open 2011
Five time French Open Champion, Rafael Nadal from Spain, clinched his sixth French Open title at the 2011 Roland Garros as he defeated Swiss maestro Roger Federer in four sets in the title match on Sunday, June 5th.
The reigning world number one took a little over four hours to clinch a 7-5, 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-1 victory over the third seed.
In the 25th meeting between the two, Federer was up against Rafa in a Grand Slam final for the first time in the last 2 years. The pair’s last meeting in a prestigious final came in January 2009, when the two met at the Australian Open. The Spaniard won back then. Not only that, coming into this match, Rafa led the head-to-head tally 16-8 against the Swiss.
Starting serve in the opener, Federer rushed to an early 3-0 lead as he broke the Spaniard in the second game. Unable to bounce back, the Spaniard continued to win games on his service. After several long rallies and multiple deuces, Rafa was able to reduce the deficit 3-5. Capitalising on the error prone Swiss, Rafa broke back in the ninth game before serving out the next to level the score at five games each.
It seemed the strain was already getting to the Swiss maestro, as many of his shots fell short of the net or he failed to get to them in time. A break for Rafa in the eleventh game left the Spaniard serving for the first set at 6-5. A cross court winner from Rafa at 40-30 allowed the Spaniard to clinch the first set 7-5.
Taking a little over an hour, Rafa scored an acceptable 67% on his first serve as he hit nine winners and capitalised on Federer's sixteen unforced errors to go one up in the set score. The Spaniard then converted two of three breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to lead Federer in the match.
Carrying over his form into the second set, Rafa broke Federer in the very first game to lead the set 2-0, extending it to 3-1 minutes later. From there on in, both players continued to hold their serves comfortably, though Federer was still a break down. An exchange of break later, Rafa was set to serve out the second set at 5-4. Although Federer broke back in the tenth and held the eleventh to lead the set 6-5, a determined Rafa comfortably held his serve in the twelfth; forcing a tiebreaker.
Back-to-back errors from Federer gave Rafa an early 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker which the Spaniard extended to 6-2 after some well placed winners. Again serving for the set, Rafa hit a cross court winner at 6-3 to clinch the tiebreaker 7-3.
Rafa hit ten winners and took advantage of Roger Federer's 23 winners as he clinched a total of 47 points to go 2-0 in the set score.
The third set started on even terms, with each matching the other blow for blow. This neck-to-neck run kept the score tied for the first eight games; well on its way to a second straight tiebreaker. However, turning the tables in the eleventh game, Federer broke back to serve for the set at 6-5. A successful hold of serve in the twelfth game allowed Federer to clinch the set 7-5; reducing the set score deficit to 1-2.
Determined to end the match on his own terms, a reformed Rafa came out firing in the fourth set as he secured an early 4-1 lead; converting one breakpoint opportunity to his advantage. A costly into-the-shot from Federer gave Rafa another break, as the latter led the set 5-1. Without losing a single point, Rafa served out the set to clinch a breadstick victory.
With his win, Rafa now equals Bjorn Borg’s record of most title wins at Roland Garros. The Spaniard held the title here from 2005 to 2008 and then made a comeback in 2010 to add another trophy to his collection.
Tags: