The King of Clay

For North American tennis fans who hoped to witness an exhilarating 5 setter in Paris or for those who missed their 9 AM alarm, the French Open finals were no less than a great disappointment yesterday. But for Rafael Nadal fans, this is an entirely new level of euphoria. In what was an incredibly lopsided match up, the Nadal-Federer rivalry experienced an amazing new turn in Roland Garros 2008.The final line was 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in favour of Nadal and considering who he beat, that is an absolutely stunning victory!

In what was the second most lopsided French Open final ever, Rafa hoisted the shimmering French Open trophy for the 4th straight year, and with 19 past champions on hand, dented the bumper of the Fed Express. The man, barely 22 years old, has already been proclaimed by some as the King of Clay. I don't know if Bjorn Borg is happy with that, but the Catalan-tongued kid deserves all the credit he can get. For god sakes, he didn't drop a single set in this tournament!

Restraining his usually emphatic celebration after winning the match out of respect for Federer, Nadal shyly took to the stage, embraced Borg, lifted the trophy and posed for the photographers. It was visible that Nadal was more grounded than usual. It was almost like a 12 year old winning his first tournament. Rafa was so courteous and embarrassed that in his 3-language victory "speech", he even apologized to Roger for the magnitude of his win.

Federer, on the other hand, was humbled as any 12 time Grand Slam champion would be after a demoralizing loss, perhaps realizing that the tennis world is finally creeping up on him. Roger Federer not winning a Slam in more than 9 months...when was the last time that ever happened? Well, I guess you can't have the best of everything. Glory won't last forever and Roger knows it. You could see it in his eyes yesterday. Even after a massacre defeat like that, he showed utmost class to reporters, his opponent, the fans and officials. That is the true spirit of a champion.

Did we really expect anything else out of this French Open tournee? Frankly, I didn't, Nadal had the trophy in his hands even before it began. And so now we move on to Britain and its infamous rainouts. Could Roger come back from losing 6-0 in a set for the first time since 1999? Will he add a 6th Wimbledon title to his resume? Or can Rafa carry his momentum across the English Channel? Maybe, Djokovic will enter the picture this time...or the emergence of another Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.

According to Bjorn Borg, it's Rafa's year! We'll see about that... ]

-D