Nadal once again refuses Roger Federer the chance of making a career slam by winning the French Open 2008.Nadal wins French Open for the fourth successive time sharing the record with the great Bjorn Borg as the second person to win four French Opens consecutively.Bjorn Borg has won the titles from 78-81.
The win also sees him join Federer, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras as the only players to have won at least four consecutive titles at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.
Not only is Nadal one of three players to have won four or more Roland Garros titles since 1925, but he also joins Ilie Nastase (1973) and Bjorn Borg (1978, 1980) as just the third player in the Open Era to win the Roland Garros title without dropping a set, and the fifth player to do so at any Grand Slam in the Open Era.
That's makes a heap of broken records...
Nadal has defeated Federer thrice for the last three years to deny him the title in the finals of the tournament.In 2005,Nadal defeated Federer in a semifinal.
The "King of Clay" has completely outplayed Federer beating him 6-1,6-3,6-0 in straight sets and completing the match in just 108 minutes.Nadal never gave Federer any chance to win and come back to the match!!.
Now again pops up the question-"Can Federer ever win French Open when Nadal is playing?".Well the answer should be a simple "Impossible!!".
Here are the match stats:
| Federer (SUI) | Nadal (ESP) |
| | | | |
| 1st Serve % | 53 of 77 = 69 % | 50 of 67 = 75 % |
|
| Aces | 2 | 0 |
|
| Unforced Errors | 35 | 7 |
|
| Winning % on 1st Serve | 26 of 53 = 49 % | 35 of 50 = 70 % |
|
| Winning % on 2nd Serve | 5 of 24 = 21 % | 11 of 17 = 65 % |
|
| Winners (Including Service) | 31 | 46 |
|
| Receiving Points Won | 21 of 67 = 31 % | 46 of 77 = 60 % |
|
| Break Point Conversions | 1 of 4 = 25 % | 8 of 17 = 47 % |
|
| Net Approaches | 18 of 42 = 43 % | 2 of 6 = 33 % |
|
| Total Points Won | 52 | 92 |
|
| Fastest Serve | 208 KMH | 194 KMH |
|
| Average 1st Serve Speed | 192 KMH | 173 KMH |
|
| Average 2nd Serve Speed | 160 KMH | 150 KMH |
Here are some photos of the French open 2008 final:
