PARIS — If there were a compelling case to be made for how Roger Federer could win Roland Garros and then be called The Greatest Ever, Rafael Nadal muted all the arguments.
In the most impressive victory of his storied clay-court career, Nadal won his fourth consecutive French Open with a devastating 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Fed. Rafa is as modest as they come, but nonetheless admitted that on clay he’s EL Hombre Supremo “Doesn’t matter if I’m humble or modest, the numbers say I am the best on clay for the last years,” contended Nadal. “I am humble, but the numbers are the numbers.”
Roger was only in the match for a few fleeting moments and Nadal was so far superior that he made Federer look small and weak.
Bjorn Borg, the last man to win four consecutive RG titles, said before the match that when he dominated, he felt like the bigger man going on court. So, too, Nadal loomed large — muscular, fast, steady and oh-so-bold.
Federer had hired a new coach — clay-court whiz Jose Higueras. But even with his keen advice and high variety, neither Roger’s nor anyone else’s game matches up against Nadal’s. No savvy shifts in tactics will work against this master, who seemingly has an answer for everything on dirt.
“I’m playing more inside the court, not the typical two meters behind,” said Nadal, who’s now 28-0 at RG and didn’t drop a set en route to the title. “I’m playing with topspin, but improving — having so much slice, changing more directions. And with the backhand, sometimes putting more flat shots.”
Nadal only dropped 25 games before entering the semis against ever-improving No. 3, Novak Djokovic, where before he secured an impressive 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3) win, he had to withstand a gallant but futile Serbian surge. Then, in the final — in his lime green muscle shirt — Rafa again proved dominant as he tortured Roger’s one-handed backhand with his gigantic left-handed forehand, blasted screaming two-handed backhands crosscourt, and unleashed sharply cutting slice serves to the corners. He dared Federer to hit backhand winners and tempted him to go too far to his left and launch forehands. But the Swiss wizard produced no magic. Simply put, Nadal knew he had more beef off both sides. Plus, Fed did little damage with his serve, as Nadal punished heavily topspinned balls deep, bounced about in the center of the court and pummeled Roger side to side. Fed did come to net, but before he closed, he either had to watch as a shot whizzed by him, or attempt to pick up a dipping ball at his toes.
“I don’t know if it’s got that much to do with great offense or great defense. It’s just his movement,” Federer confided. “It’s just better than the rest. He plays like two forehands…because he has an open stance on both sides. I can’t do that, so I lose a meter or two…His forehand is great, and he’s very tough mentally. He hardly misses, and when he goes on the offensive, he plays it close to the line.”
The second set did see a brief flurry from Federer, when he began to find the range with his forehand. But Nadal stood strong. At 3-3, Roger had his single opening when he held a break point. But, after chasing down a drop shot, nine more games of Federer errors and Rafa’s reflex passes saw Nadal complete his imposing run. But unlike previous years, when he slid to the ground in giddy celebration, the Spaniard meekly trotted to the net and shook his foe’s hand. “It was tough for Roger. I have very good relationship with him and I feel I have to be more respectful,” Nadal said.
But the stats were less than respectful. Nadal ripped 46 winners and committed only seven unforced errors. That hefty differential of 39 is surely one of the best ever in the history of major finals. Fed, who committed 35 unforced errors, was broken eight times and won only 34 percent of his service points. Nadal won 92 points to only 52 from Fed, about as severe a butt kicking as an all-time great has ever put on another.
Both men face big questions going into Wimbledon, where Fed has beaten Nadal in the last two finals and hopes to break Borg’s record of five straight wins. Roger’s confidence has to be nearly shattered, knowing that Nadal is improving and may bring the same lightning defense-to-offense game to the lawns and this time may not so generously let go of his chances at crunch time, as he did in ‘07.
Nonetheless, Roger was bravely upbeat: “I still feel very strong about my chances and being the big favorite, going into grass. It’s so far away, grass and clay, that losing in four or five, [or] no chance like today, I don’t think it will have a big effect on me mentally.”
Amazingly, Fed, who still may go down as the greatest ever, suffered the worst defeat at a Slam since McEnroe spanked Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 at the ‘84 Wimby, and the worst defeat ever for a No. 1 in a major final. So maybe Borg was prescient when before the final, he tabbed Nadal to be the Wimby victor this year and thereby become the first guy to win Paris and London back-to-back since he did it in ‘80.
“If he survives the first two or three rounds, I pick Nadal,” said Borg. And after witnessing Rafa’s fiersome French ferocity, who among us would dare disagree?
Ivanovic Wins First Slam in Paris
PARIS — At age 14, a gregarious yet raw Ana Ivanovic convinced an investor to fund her dreams.
“She was different than anybody,” said Dan Holzmann, the man who bankrolled her career. “She was totally determined and loved tennis. She was totally mature and knew what she wanted. You gave her a racket and she played day and night. She was a girl I needed to help. She was charming. I couldn’t say no.”
At 20, Ana is still much the same. Even before the French final – in which she dismissed Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 to win her first Grand Slam title — she offered to help a small boy who was carrying an oversized basket of flowers.
“That’s typical Ana,” Holzmann said. “She’s always helping – even in a Slam final.” Ivanovic has always been a sugarplum off the court, but on court, often she just wasn’t ready to keep her foot on the pedal and step on her foes. But during the Roland Garros fortnight, she was true to her word that she had matured emotionally, had stopped thinking too far ahead and trusted her shots. So against Safina, she started strong, booming her huge forehand, going for her backhand-down-the-line, attacking weak second serves and mixing up her own serve. She was the better mover, the total dictator and responded when Safina made her push.
Up 4-2 in a marathon seventh game of the second set with Safina serving, the Russian began to find the range with her thumping serve and heavy groundies. Ivanovic had chances, but Safina briefly outclassed her, and on the changeover at 4-3, it looked like Dinara might pull off another astonishing comeback like she did in fighting off match points against Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva. But Ana got off the chair and played even better, winning the last seven points of the match with tremendous serving, line-kissing groundies and lots of heart.
Ms. Nicety Nice became the ultimate closer. “You have to be a killer,” Ivanovic said. “And put them under pressure…Off the court, it’s obviously different… It’s important to be a fair player and not lose your appearance just because people might say you’re too nice.”
Holzmann, like most of tennisdom, sees a different Ivanovic off court, but believes that on court, “she really is a killer. She doesn’t care about anything else. Then after the match she kisses the other girl and is almost embarrassed she won.”
Her coach, Sven Groenefeld, is quick to add that champions don’t have to be self-centered jerks. “Look at Federer — his character is always the same. You don’t have to be obnoxious…A lot of our champions have been humble, soft-spoken and strong characters.”
Ivanovic proved her coach correct, but it didn’t happen overnight. Her rise to No. 1 has been steep and there have been many a bump. Just recall her freeze out in the ‘07 French final against Henin; her walkabout against Venus at the ‘07 U.S. Open or the ‘08 Aussie Open final against Sharapova, where she lost her head and made many a lousy decision.
“I had few sleepless nights after that,” Ivanovic confided. “Part of me was already thinking about possibly holding a trophy.” Soon after Groenefeld told her, “Every time you go somewhere where you’ve never been it’s like going to Mars…It’s so special. [Then] you can come back to Earth, try to digest it, give it some order and learn.”
Australia wasn’t the only hurdle. After winning Indian Wells, she went on clay and was stopped cold. She couldn’t contend with the pressure of being the defending champ in Berlin and in Rome, after she heard that Henin had retired, she knew that the No. 1 spot was there for the taking and choked in her opening match.
“I found it hard to deal with expectations…so I tried to find something to calm down, control the negative thoughts and to try not to think what will be,” she said. “I was thinking ‘I could be No. 1,’ and it was too much.” By Paris, she had a new attitude. Her work with her trainer, Scott Burns, on breathing techniques to ease her nerves bore fruit as she raced through the first five rounds. But then came the money match — her semi against in-country rival Jelena Jankovic, where the winner would be assured of No.1.
Ivanovic’s camp smartly kept that info away from her, but still, confronting her preening, attention-loving, counterpunching foe on red clay for the first time at a Slam was harrowing. But thanks to a timely rally in the third set, AI came through.
“Luckily I didn’t know [about No.1] because playing her is always very emotional,” she said. “Lots of people back home are paying attention, so if I knew we were fighting for No. 1, it might have been too much.”
Later that day, Ivanovic was told that had Jankovic won, she would have written, “I love being No. 1” on the bandage on her arm. Ivanovic shook her head and said, “We all have own things or trademarks.” Then, when a filmmaker told her ‘Congratulations on being No. 1,’ she was shocked. “It was like a wall coming at me,” Ivanovic confided.
But, ultimately, it was Ivanovic who crushed Safina and was handed the winner’s trophy by Henin. For a girl who learned to play during NATO’s ‘99 bombing of Belgrade, this was fantasy turned into reality.
“I dreamt of this riding my bicycle to practice, but it was hard to imagine the reality…It’s so thrilling,” she said.
Whether AI can remain No. 1 remains to be seen, but she certainly has size, reasonable speed, weapons from all over, a good sense of self and is the consummate classy champion.
“I really try to be the same person,” she said. “On tour I’ve seen people change with success. I’ve always told my family and team that if I start acting weird, just pinch me and bring me back, because it’s important to have your principles. They haven’t had to pinch me yet.”
