The irrepressible Spaniard put a shell-shocked Federer firmly in his place with a brutal 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 demolition to complete the most lopsided French Open men's final victory for 31 years. Nadal protected his aura of invincibility in devastating style to take his place alongside Bjorn Borg as the only men to have won four successive French Open titles since the tournament went international in 1925. After the one hour 48-minute destruction, even Nadal was embarrassed to celebrate his triumph and told Federer during the presentation ceremony: “I'm sorry for that final but you played well. I want to thank (you) for (your) attitude on the court.” A dejected Federer added: “I would have hoped to do better than four games but Rafael is very, very strong. He dominated this tournament like maybe no one before except Borg, so congratulations Rafa.” Nadal's victory over the world number one finished off the most dominant men's French Open campaign in 28 years. Not since Borg's run to the 1980 title had a man won the tournament without dropping a set. Like a runaway bulldozer, Nadal has flattened anyone and anything in his path at Roland Garros this year. Whether playing an in-form Novak Djokovic in the semifinals or Federer, the Spaniard made no allowances for reputations as he extended his perfect record at the claycourt major to 28-0. As Nadal once again basked in his moment of glory, Federer could only brood over another botched campaign in Paris. To compound his misery, the 12-time Grand Slam champion also raked up some forgettable landmarks. The world number one became the first man to lose three finals in a row in Paris and suffered his first 6-0 set loss since June 1999. Federer, looking to complete a career Grand Slam, had swaggered on to court with great expectations of narrowing his lopsided 1-8 claycourt record against Nadal. On the eve of the final, he also chose to remind everyone that: “So far I've never lost (to Rafa here) in three sets.” Those words would come back to haunt him just 24 hours later. A sense of foreboding set in within just three minutes of the start when Nadal broke the Federer serve in the opening game as the Swiss paddled a forehand long. Throughout the final Nadal leapt in the air administering his beguiling top spin, hammering the ball relentlessly into the corners and stretching his opponent to the limit. Fans were left gasping and Federer was left reeling when in a sequence of six games from 2-1 down in the first set, he managed to win only three points. Such was Nadal's command of Centre Court, it was difficult to believe that he was facing a man who is often thought to be the greatest player to have picked up a tennis racket. The 22-year-old Spaniard conjured 46 winners on Sunday and made Federer's life a total misery as only seven unforced errors flew off his racket. In fact, Federer would do well not to read the statistics from the match as it could prove to be a painful experience. He faced break points on all but one of his 11 service games. He also helped Nadal on his way by producing 35 unforced errors. After receiving the runner-up tray from Borg, Federer left court a broken man, shaking his head in disbelief and desperate to escape an arena which had turned into his own personal torture chamber. “I didn't expect a match like this. I played an almost perfect match. I didn't believe this match,” said Nadal.
