Spain's Rafael Nadal waves to the crowd wihile sitting on the court after winning a men's final against Switzerland's Roger Federer during the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday June 11, 2006.
Rafael Nadal of Spain throws his sweatband after defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland during the Men's Singles Final on day fifteen of the French Open at Roland Garros
Rafael Nadal of Spain holds the trophyUnflappable and unbeatable against anyone else, Roger Federer looked helpless at times Sunday, his bid for a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title disappearing in the clouds of clay kicked up by Rafael Nadal.
Over and over, for three hours and with the temperature at 90, Nadal scampered and skidded his way to reach seemingly unreachable balls. Going long stretches without a mistake, No. 2-ranked Nadal beat No. 1 Federer 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to win his second straight French Open title.
"I won the first set easily, and usually in a situation like that I don't let things go by. But it's a final. It's against Nadal. It's on clay," Federer said. "That makes it very difficult -- more difficult maybe than other cases."
His 27-match winning streak at majors ended. Nadal's 60-match winning streak on red clay lives.
So consider this: Nadal is now 6-1 against Federer over their careers. And this: Federer is 0-4 against the Spaniard in 2006, 44-0 against everyone else.
Nadal also is the first player to beat Federer in a Grand Slam final. The Swiss entered Sunday 7-0 in that category, the best such start to a career since the 1880s.
"I can't say I'm better than him. Since I was born, I've never seen a more complete player. He's the best," Nadal said. "Maybe he was nervous, too. Roger was playing today for being on the top of history. This pressure is a lot, no?"
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