Nadal wins French Open, equals Borg's record
The Spaniard Rafael Nadal has maintained the record of beating Roger Federer at Roland Garros every time they met at this venue. This time it is special because by beating the Swiss Federer he touched the record of Bjorn Borg with six titles of French Open. Incidentally Borg is also from the same country as that of Roger Federer. This is the fourth defeat of Federer in the hands of Nadal in French Open final; the previous three were in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Federer lost to Nadal in the 2005 semifinal also. Five contests between them at Roland Garros went in favor of Rafael Nadal.
This win was necessary for Nadal to keep the crown of world number 1, which was precariously hanging in the middle between him and Novak Djokovic. Djokovic lost his chance of reaching the number one spot when he was defeated by Federer in the semifinal ending his long streak of wins in the last 41 matches. For Federer too the final was a significant one against the long time nemesis Rafael Nadal, whom he could not beat even once in this tournament. In spite of a tough fight the Swiss could not hold on to his determination that bowed down in front of the determination of Rafael Nadal, the joint king of Roland Garros along with Bjorn Borg. The pertinent question is raised whether Nadal would be able to cross this limit of Roland Garros and become the supreme champion in this venue. The final that was played today (5 June) was interrupted by rain and finally Nadal beat Federer 7-5, 7-6(7-3), 5-7, 6-1 fulfilling the expectations of millions of his fans all over the world. At the end of the French Open Nadal retains his world number 1 spot followed by Djokovic and Federer in the second and third position respectively.