Tennis

[Haribo]

Rafael Nadal edged arch-rival Roger Federer in a thrilling decider in the "battle of the surfaces" in Mallorca.
The world's top two players slugged it out in an exhibition match on a half-clay, half-grass court before the Spaniard prevailed 7-5 4-6 7-6 (12-10).

Nadal broke Federer on both grass and clay to take the opening set before the Swiss broke on clay to level the match.

The players traded breaks in the third set before clay king Nadal edged out the grass master in a tie-break.

Federer, Wimbledon champion for the last four years, has won 48 consecutive matches on grass, while double French Open champion Nadal has won 72 straight matches on clay.

The organisers of the event had to lay a brand new surface on the grass side of the court on Tuesday night after the original turf had failed to cope with the indoor location and then fell victim to a plague of worms.

Changeovers were extended to two minutes instead of the usual 90 seconds to give players a chance to change their footwear for each surface.

[la-real-raul]

another Nadal vs. Federer final at Roland Garros.

[Bravoboy]

Nadal will take it again, I reckon.

He's just on too good a form at the moment. Despite winning in 3 sets, Federer didn't look overly convincing today.

[Rambo]

The last time Federer and Nadal met on clay Federer beat him and that was about a week prior to the French Open, so anything is possible.

[la-real-raul]

Nadal wins three straight
By Matthew Cronin
Sunday, June 10, 2007

In yet another rock solid performance in a Roland Garros final, Rafael Nadal became the first man since the great Bjorn Borg to win three straight crowns when he wore out top-ranked Roger Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

“It's an incredible dream to be able to play this well in front of such a great crowd,” Nadal said.

Still undefeated in Paris, the tireless, speedy Spaniard never withered under Federer's aggressive attack, daring the Swiss to go up, around and over his impenetrable defensive wall. While Federer did everything within his power to try and confuse the Spaniard, he was unable to consistently get the remarkably focused Spaniard off balance.

Unable to produce enough winners

Nadal set the tone early in the contest, playing deep and relentless shots, pounding into Federer's backhand and waiting patiently for his openings. While Federer weaker backhand side did not exactly break down, he was unable to produce enough winners off of it and nearly every time that the Spaniard gained control of an exchange with his heavy topspin forehand, Nadal cashed in.

Moreover, even when he gained break point opportunities, Federer was unable to find the right combinations to trip up Nadal, who appeared to be revelling in the opportunity to participate in the high-risk moments. Federer ended the contest having taken only one of his 17 break-point chances.

The 10-time Grand Slam champion often wowed the crowd with brilliant shot-making, but point in, point out, Nadal was much more solid.

After going down in a grinding first set, Federer's high variety attack showed through in the second set, as he began to mix in low backhand slices, net rushes and rapid-fire forehands. Nadal continued to push the Swiss hard, though, forcing him to use five set points to grab the set, which Federer won on a forehand error by the Spanish No.2 seed.

Nadal adeptly mixed up his serves

The Swiss had to work so hard to win the second that he looked mentally tired coming out in the third set, where he was immediately broken. With a break in hand, Nadal upped his level, yanking the Swiss all over the court until he took his legs out from under him. Nadal did not serve spectacularly well, but he adeptly mixed up his serves and consequently saw enough mid-court balls to be able to seize control of the points. The muscular lefty won the set when he crushed a forehand crosscourt winner.

Federer again got himself in trouble at the opening of the fourth set when pressing on his forehand side, finding it impossible to penetrate the Spaniard. He dumped a forehand into the net and was broken to 1-2, at which point Nadal never looked back, throwing huge body blows at the Swiss. In typical Nadal fashion, he held at love to win the title when Federer flew a forehand long.

An incredible 21-0 mark at Roland Garros

The 21-year-old Nadal then fell on his back, squirmed in delight on his beloved red clay and eventually climbed up into the players' box, high-fiving the president of the Spanish Tennis Federation, Pedro Munoz, and hugging his coach and uncle Tony, as well as his parents.

Nadal now holds an incredible 21-0 mark at Roland Garros and finished the match with only 28 unforced errors to 60 from Federer. He was congratulated during trophy ceremony by three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, who won his first crown in Paris in 1997 and vowed to return next year.

[Haribo]

Murray's out of Wimbledon. Shame, I wanted to see what he'd be like this year to see how his stamina would do, usually he's half-dead by the 4th set.

Will it be another Federer/Nadal final? Probably ¬_¬

[Rambo]

Oh great, now we have to rely on Henman

I think it will be another Federer/Roddick final.

[Stella Artois]

No chance. Nadal has the beating of most and I see them two going at it again.

[BarnDoor]

I hear Henman and Rusedski are retiring after their obvious first round defeats. They are not just retiring from Tennis but life. They plan to drive Tennis rackets into their hearts on centre court with much clapping from the sad cunts watching it.

[Top Gun]

I couldn't believe that the Henman match stopped last night, it was great. But I suppose if the players couldn't see then it wasn't going to be a good match. Anyone see the guy in the Newcastle shirt?

[Dan]

When is Sharapova playing?

[Top Gun]

Can't tell exactly because they just do an Order of Play but it the 3rd match on Court 1, the 1st match starts at 1pm.

[BarnDoor]

All the fags cheering for tim looked like cunts especially the gash in the mag shirt. Don't they have homes to go to?

[greenegg]

I like watching womens tennis with the sound turned right up and then I shut my eyes and listen to the groans. The only down side is every now and then some bastard will shout FAULT or OUT and it puts me right off.

[7ames]

shhhhh timmy