Rafael Nadal Wins French Open 2011

Rafael Nadal overcame a determined Roger Federer to win the French Open Tennis 2011 title 7:5, 7:6, 5:7, 6:1. This was his 6th title at the French Open, a feat which equaled the record held by the great Bjorn Borg. This win also extended his unbelievable run at Roland Garros to 45 wins and just a single loss. In yesterday’s women’s finals, Na Li became the first Chinese woman to win a grand slam title, when she defeated the never-say-die Francesca Schiavone 6:4, 7:6 in a thrilling encounter.

Federer was out of the blocks fast and raced to a 3:0 lead in the first set. But then Nadal powered his way back by winning 7 games on the trot to take the first set and also race ahead in the second. With a 2 set to nothing lead, and up 4:2 in the third, Nadal seemed all set to wrap up the match, but Federer, the champion that he is, bounced back to take the third set. He nearly broke Nadal in the first game of the fourth set, but Nadal held strong to take the game, and eventually run away with the set and match.

Statistics of this match showed that Federer was ahead in terms of aces and winners, while Nadal was ahead on points won on first set and first serve percentage. But the real difference between the two was the number of unforced errors. Barring the third set, Fereder had many more unforced errors throughout the match, as compared to Nadal. Another factor was Nadal’s retrievals, which always forced Federer to make those extra few shots to win the points. Though, Federer played some lovely drop shots all through the match, which got him quite a few points. But in the end, Nadal was the clear winner, and he proved his dominance on clay, but winning his record 6th French Open Men’s Singles title.

What do you think separated the two players in this match? Let us and everyone else know what you feel!