Rafael Nadal, the King of Clay

Rafael Nadal annihilated Roger Federer in the final of the French Open, 6-1 6-3 6-0. Wow.

If I had to put money on it, I would have bet Rafa to win his 4th French Open title in a row for sure. But I would never have bet him to have won in the manner that he did.

Clearly, there was immense pressure that was on the 22-year-old's shoulders (in fact, he was only 21 before the tournament started and just turned 22 while it was going on). He was the heavy favorite to win, with a good chance to equal Bjorn Borg's record of 4 consecutive French Open titles. Djokovic was hot on his heels and could take over the #2 spot that Rafa has had for more than 150 weeks (i.e. 3 full years) in a row already. Nadal also didn't have a very good start in 2008 and lost early in Rome, a clay court tournament he had owned for the last few years. He had to battle blisters during the clay court season. And Roger Federer, the guy who Nadal has beaten in every French Open encounter they have had since 2005, recently hired Jose Higueras as his part-time coach in the hopes that having a clay court specialist in his camp would help him in his cause to win the one Grand Slam event that he has not won yet.

The fact that he played 3 close sets in his first round win against a player I had never heard of before certainly didn't help his case. But that must have been a fluke. Because after that, Nadal just put on a dazzling display of aggressive claycourt tennis that left his opponents bewildered and matched that with his patented incredible defense that left his opponents frustrated. And exhausted.

A lot of people were expecting the final to be a more or less close encounter. After all, Roger took Nadal to three sets in Berlin a couple of weeks before. And their previous encounters in Roland Garros went four sets. So when Nadal whipped the mighty Roger - possibly the greatest tennis player ever - with the loss of only four games, it had everyone shaking their heads in disbelief. Including Nadal himself.

With Roger still firmly at the top of the rankings and Djokovic nipping at their heels, Rafa may very well end up being the best player never to reach the #1 ranking. A lot of people talk about how Roger could have easily won a couple of French Open titles, and even the elusive calendar Grand Slam, if Rafa were not if the picture. But if you look at it from the other side of the fence, Nadal could very well be the #1 player in the world 3 years in a row, with a couple of Wimbledon titles under his belt, if Roger weren't around.

Rafael Nadal did not drop a set en route to winning the trophy - only the seventh time in the open era that a male player went through the draw without the loss of a set - and it now gives him a perfect 28-0 record in the second Grand Slam event of the tennis year. At just 22 years of age, Nadal may very well win a few more Grand Slam titles in Paris. Clearly, he is the king of clay. And may very well be the best male clay court player in the history of tennis.

*****

Congratulations to Ana Ivanovic, who won her first Grand Slam title by beating Dinara Safina in straight sets. The win has also allowed her to become the #1 player in the WTA rankings.