Rafael Nadal of Spain has successfully defended his men's title at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, beating world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6.
Nadal handed Federer his first-ever loss in a Grand Slam final Sunday, closing out the three hour match with a volley for a winner. Nadal then collapsed on his back and rolled over, covered in the clay he has mastered.
The 20-year-old Spaniard battled back after losing the opening set on the sun-baked court at Roland Garros to extend his record winning streak on clay to 60 matches. It was Nadal's sixth win in seven meetings with the 24-year-old Federer, and the young Spaniard remains unbeaten at the French open since winning his debut match last year.
The loss ended Federer's bid for his first French Open title and a win which would have made him just the third man to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. Federer, who currently holds the Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open titles, would have become just the sixth man to achieve a career slam.
In the women's final Saturday, fifth-seeded Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne defeated number eight Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 6-4, 6-4.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
