Nadal buries Ferrer to etch French Open history

If the 112th French Open turned into a coronation parade into the weighty pages of history, it was made all the more remarkable by the fact that the man himself was on court writing the story. The common folk peer from their distant graves waiting for some stranger to tell their story long after they are gone. And then there are a rare few who are born with an elegant pen to ink their own golden leaves even as they tread majestically through the sands of time. Rafael Nadal is one of those rare young men. It was indeed a David versus Goliath battle, but without the marquee ending. Ferrer’s act of David had neither the guile nor gumption to seriously challenge the Emperor of clay on his favourite red shale of Paris. The Mallorcan scripted to himself an enviable and historic 8th title at Roland Garros, mauling his fellow Spaniard, David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to take the Coupe des Mousquetaires for a momentous eighth time.

Even the weather turned benign as the Parisian subjects of the Spanish matador gathered to celebrate yet another coronation parade, as they have for year after year since 2005. Standing in the path of the Emperor from Manacor was David Ferrer, an embodiment of consistent effort and dedication, if there was ever one. While the emperor was attempting to surpass every king that reined before him, the invader was battling just to decorate an emaciated career spent in the giant shadow of his prolific compatriot. The crown is resting firmly on the humble champion’s head and one has to believe it will take a super human effort next year for any challenger to threaten the rein of the peerless emperor.

Nadal was challenged by each of his first three opponents, before enacting yet another memorable encounter against his main challenger Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals on Friday. On the other hand, Ferrer had swept through the draw with majestic ease without dropping a set. Incidentally, Nadal and Ferrer were also the most successful players on the ATP World Tour this year with 42 and 37 victories leading into the final. All those numbers though barely mattered, as Nadal smothered Ferrer into submission, despite pockets of resistance from the spirited Valencian.

There was a sense of vacuum on Court Philippe Chatrier as the event was deprived of a deserving finale. Many agree that the semi-final between Nadal and Novak Djokovic was indeed the real battle for the title and Ferrer’s meek surrender only served to underline the argument. Nadal steam rolled his way past Ferrer with 35 winners, saving 9 of 12 break chances on his serve to deprive Ferrer of a realistic chance of finding his way into the match. The statistic that might most impress the Nadal camp is the fact that their ward won 13 of 17 forays to the net in an utterly dominant performance that lasted two hours and 16 minutes.

Nadal is a familiar warrior in this nick of the woods, but the third point of the second game served to underline his credentials and serve a warning to his opponent. Nadal was quick to rustle Ferrer, forcing him to scamper after a ferocious forehand behind the baseline before ending the rally with a feathery drop shot.

Ferrer conceded ground by ceding an early break to Nadal in the third game, but Nadal opened a window of opportunity in the next game when sent a forehand wide. Ferrer made a mess of the break point with an over cooked return that landed long. Ferrer gained a second chance with a brilliant backhand up the line winner and Nadal succumbed when he dumped his backhand in the net on the second point.

A double fault from Ferrer in the seventh game betrayed the Valencian’s nerves. The beastly Nadal pounced on the opportunity to work himself to a couple of break points. But Ferrer is nothing if not for his immense grit and determination – he put on a brave face taking on the Nadal forehand to save the first and the seven-time champion burnt the second with one that sailed long.

Unfortunately, Ferrer surrendered a third and this time Nadal made him pay with an exquisite cross court pass that had royalty written into its DNA. When Nadal took a 5-3 lead with a service winner and an ace down the middle, the famous spirit of Ferrer began to wilt. Nadal teased him with some refined change in pace before killing him softly with an almost divine backhand winner to take another break and the first set.

With the intruder already on the mat, Nadal upped the ante at the start of the second set. The Mallorcan allowed his game to assume full blossom as he reeled off relentless winners off both flanks. The King of Clay gained position with a backhand cross court, before creaming a break off Ferrer with a whistling forehand winner along the line.

All Ferrer could do in response was blow air in exasperation. Very soon, Nadal had a 3-0 lead and it appeared as if Ferrer was there just to help the King hold court and enthral his enamoured subjects. Ferrer though is not one to give up easily. After holding serve in a testy fourth game, Ferrer stepped up to the plate with a powerful backhand cross court winner to gain two break points at 15-40 in the fifth game.

In a blistering response, Nadal unleashed the beast within him to reel three straight winners to assert himself back into the game. It was an important game for Ferrer and the little man battled on to gain two more opportunities. But Rafa saved each of them with characteristic relentlessness, forcing Ferrer to play the extra shot till he eventually made the error. Ferrer was softened from the effort and Nadal smothered him with a backhand up the line winner to take a 4-1 lead.

The embattled Ferrer started to bleed when he went down two break points in the sixth game. Yet again, the gritty little beast summoned another dose of resilience to battle back to deuce. Clearly though, Ferrer was short on ammunition, and it was all he could do to prevent Nadal from breaking. A forehand winner left Nadal serving for the set at 5-1.

There was barely anything that Ferrer could do to halt the Nadal juggernaut, but a brief interruption for some deranged streaker unsettled the great champion. The world No. 3 surrendered serve, but settled his nerves quickly to break Ferrer and take the second set. Nadal was beginning to assume proportion with each passing moment and Ferrer was looking like a theatre artist who stumbled in to the wrong stage.

At the beginning of the third set, even as rain drops continued to spray the court, Nadal threatened to run away with the match when he broke to take a 2-0 lead with a fiercely struck forehand down the line winner. However, Ferrer fought on gamely to rustle Nadal, taking eight of the next nine points to stay even at 2-2. It was a final piece of resistance from the vain warrior, who held serve to remain even at 3-3.

Ferrer could only maintain his intensity for so long and Nadal broke it in the eighth game to edge closer to a place hitherto unseen by a man wielding a tennis racket. Six men – four before the open era and two in recent memory had dominated a grand slam enough to win it seven times. Richard Sears, Bill Larned and Bill Tilden at the US Open and William Renshaw, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer at Wimbledon had achieved the accolade of winning seventh titles at a single grand slam event.

Nadal had joined that illustrious club last year when he surpassed Bjorn Borg as the man with the most French Open titles. A service winner gave Nadal two match points for an unprecedented eighth French Open title. The unassailable Spaniard needed just one, as he struck a thumping forehand winner to claim a momentous victory before collapsing on the court in a delirious heap. The historic victory helped Nadal emulate Roy Emerson, who also won an impressive twelve grand slam titles. Only Pete Sampras with 14 and Roger Federer with 17 are ahead on the relentless path of Nadal’s pursuit for grand slam glory.

The greatest irony about Monday, even as the world celebrates yet another coronation for their affable King, is that Nadal will drop to world No. 5 and Ferrer will take the 4th rank. In the past few weeks since his iconic comeback, Nadal has beaten Federer, Djokovic and now Ferrer for the 20th time in his career. Irrespective of what the rankings might indicate, it needs no complex analytics to understand the best man in tennis at this moment.

Since his comeback in February, Nadal has reached the finals of each of the nine tournaments he has played in and won seven of those titles – including his 24th ATP Masters Series title and the 12th grand slam title of his monumental career. There is no need any more to foretell the sense of trepidation that will fill the air when the marauder from Mallorca reaches the leafy south west suburb of Wimbledon near London, a fortnight from now.