Nadal Equals Borg's Record With Sixth French Open Title

PARIS - Bjorn Borg could not make it to Roland Garros on Sunday, which turned out to be a pity. It would have made for just the right photograph: Borg handing over the Coupe des Mousquetaires to his successor in the soft evening light.

It has been 30 years since Borg won his sixth and last French Open, and it was possible to imagine then that no other relentless baseliner would be able to match his domination at the world's greatest clay-court tournament.

In fact, the man who would do it had not yet been born. But Rafael Nadal is in the prime of life now, and on Sunday, he reeled in Borg and won his sixth title here by holding off his customary French Open foil, Roger Federer.

Nadal's and Federer's rivalry is perhaps the greatest in the history of their sport, but it has been decidedly one-sided here. Nadal's 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1 victory Sunday gave him a 5-0 record against Federer on the terre battue of Paris. Four of those victories have come in finals, and though this match was a thriller in comparison with Nadal's 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 victory in 2008, it still ended with him imposing his topspin forehand and Federer slumping toward the trophy ceremony with the crowd commiserating.

"For me it's something very special to equal the six titles of Bjorn," Nadal said. "But for me the most important thing is winning Roland Garros."

They love the French-speaking Federer in Paris, the only Grand Slam city where he has been an underdog during his glory years. But though the chants of "Ro-ger, Ro-ger!" helped him scale revivalist heights Friday in his magnificent victory against Novak Djokovic, they were not nearly enough to lift the 29-year-old Federer past the 25-year-old Nadal.

Federer did have his chances, perhaps none more significant than the set point he failed to convert with Nadal serving at 2-5 in the opening set. But Federer's backhand drop shot - a shot he used often and effectively throughout the match - landed just wide.

Nadal held serve, then broke Federer in the next game.

"That's how it goes, Rafa is tough," Federer said. "I definitely thought I got maybe a touch unlucky there and he got a touch lucky."

These two masters of spin put on quite a spectacle in the early going, as each reshaped the ball, whipping and slashing through their strokes. For much of the opening set, Federer was able to avoid the pattern that has caused him so much grief against the left-handed Nadal. Instead of having to hit one-handed backhand after one-handed backhand above his shoulder, he was playing his forehand with conviction into Nadal's two-handed backhand. As he had all tournament, Federer was also moving beautifully.

But sustaining that level against Nadal on clay once again proved too much. Nadal scrapped and raised his level to win the first set. He then shrugged off a false step late in the second set. With Nadal serving for a two-set lead at 5-4, and up, 40-30, a brief rainstorm forced the players to make a quick trip to the locker room.

When they returned little more than 10 minutes later, Federer saved two set points and ended up breaking Nadal. It proved to be nothing more than a brief respite for Federer, who played a mediocre tiebreaker, pressing and making errors in bunches.

"Obviously I'm the one who's playing with smaller margins so obviously I'm always going to go through a bit more ups and downs," Federer said. "Whereas Rafa is content doing the one thing the entire time."

Federer would make one more meaningful surge, rallying from a 2-4 deficit by breaking Nadal at love and then storming to win the third set. But Nadal broke Federer at love himself in the fourth game of the final set as Federer finished off the game with a double fault and a forehand into the net.

The final felt like a processional from there, and when the match ended with a forehand error, Nadal dropped to his knees briefly before jogging forward to offer his hand and condolences to Federer once more.

A gracias would have been appropriate, too. Nadal only held on to his No. 1 ranking here because of Federer's victory over Djokovic in the semifinals. If Djokovic would have won, he would have assured himself of moving into the top spot on Monday for the first time.

Nadal now leads his series with Federer, 17-8, and has won their last four matches in Grand Slam tournaments. The last time they played in a major event - a five-set victory by Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open final - Federer broke down in tears at the awards ceremony, muttering "God, it's killing me".

Federer did not look nearly as traumatized Sunday. He is ranked No. 3 and has not performed to the level of Nadal and Djokovic this season. But he proved here that, when in form and inspired, he remains a member of the sport's elite, even with his 30th birthday looming.

"It' s too bad I couldn't win, but I'm very proud of my run here the last two weeks," he said in his postmatch remarks to the crowd. "For me, too, it was a great tournament."

Though Federer remains the career leader in Grand Slam singles titles with 16, Nadal now has 10. At 25, he is the second-youngest man to reach that number. The youngest was Borg, who was 24 when he won his 10th at Wimbledon in 1980.

But both Borg and Nadal were most dominant here in Paris. Borg won his six titles in eight appearances from 1974 to 1981. Nadal has won his in seven appearances. Both lost to just one man at Roland Garros. Borg to the Italian Adriano Panatta twice; Nadal to Sweden's Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009.

But Borg and Nadal have more in common than just the numbers. They were both long-haired teen idols who endured and who formed career-long connections to their childhood coaches (Borg had Lennart Bergelin, Nadal has his uncle Toni). They both redefined the forehand with their technique and topspin. They were the best movers on clay of their generations and possessed great two-handed backhands, underrated touch, superb endurance and an ability to block out the pressure and the distractions and focus on the point and challenge at hand.

And though it was certainly appropriate that Jim Courier award the trophy Sunday night on the 20th anniversary of his victory here in 1991, it would have been something to see Borg and Nadal in the same frame.

Perhaps he can make it for the ceremony if Nadal breaks their tie. Watching Nadal win this year - when he was not at his most dominant from start to finish - it was hard not to imagine him getting to seven.