Aimee Howarth talks about her sporting hero, Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Puddicombe on why he thinks Mark Cavendish should win Sports Personality of the Year 2011
The Yorker's sports team says what they would like for Christmas this year
The second blog for The Yorker from the University of York Riding Club
This sees Nadal equal Bjorn Borg’s record of six French Open titles and, having lost only once in six years of playing there and holding a 44-1 win record at, it’s not hard to see him soon surpassing Borg’s tally.
Nadal defeated Brit Andy Murray to reach the final, while Federer overcame Novak Djokovic, ending the Serb’s run of 43 unbeaten matches.
The final was high-paced from the off, with both players making fantastic shots and varying their play well.
Nadal received treatment for blisters and soon after Federer seemed to take control of the first set, taking the first break to leads 5-3. He narrowly missed a drop-shot on set point and this spurred Nadal into action.
The Spaniard turned the game around, using his ferocious forehand down the line, and took the set 7-5.
The second set was fairly even, with both players making a few errors; a sign of the pressure of playing in an Open final, surely.
This time it was Nadal who dropped a set point, seeing the close set go to a tie-break. Errors from the world number three saw Nadal take a big lead and he won it 7-3 with his trademark forehand winner.
Nadal took a 4-2 lead in the third set and things seemed to over for Federer; but he fought back and turned the set around, eventually winning it 5-7 to keep his hopes of winning the title alive.
Federer's hope was short-lived however, as Nadal took a double break in the fourth set and then served it out to win 6-1 and claim the title.
Nadal’s speed and strength throughout the match was incredible; impossible even for 16-time Open winner Federer to compete with.
He remains world number one with this victory and his performance in the final, combining speed, skill, ability and power, sums up what an incredible all-round player he is.
This week sees Nadal in action again as the Aegon Championship at Queen’s starts, taking place from 6th-12th June.
He has a first-round bye but will return to action later in the week.
Murray will also take part after recovering from an ankle injury but both Djokovic and Federer are side-lined with minor injuries.
You must log in to submit a comment.
