PARIS (AP) - Oh, how Roger Federer savored every moment with his
first French Open trophy.
He raised it overhead. He cradled it in the crook of his elbow.
He closed his eyes and kissed it. He examined the names of other
champions etched on its base. Even in a downpour on Court Philippe
Chatrier, as heavy, gray clouds blocked any shred of sunlight
Sunday, that silver trophy sure seemed to glisten.
Finally, the lone major championship that had eluded Federer was
his. With his latest masterful performance, Federer tied Pete
Sampras' record of 14 major singles titles and became the sixth man
to complete a career Grand Slam.
History was at stake, and Federer was at his best, completely
outplaying No. 23-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden en route to a
6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory in a French Open final that lacked
suspense but not significance.
"Maybe my greatest victory - or certainly the one that takes
the most pressure off my shoulders," Federer said in French,
moments after dropping to his knees, caking them with clay, as his
127 mph service winner ended the match. "I think that now, and
until the end of my career, I can really play with my mind at peace
and no longer hear that I've never won at Roland Garros."
Federer came heartbreakingly close in the past, losing the
previous three French Open finals, so there certainly was something
poetic about his tying Sampras' Grand Slam mark at this particular
tournament, on this particular court.
"Now that he's won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies
his place in history as the greatest player that played the game,"
Sampras told The Associated Press.
"If there's anyone that deserves it, it's Roger," Sampras
said. "He's come so close - lost to one guy who's going to go down
as probably the greatest clay-courter of all time."
That would be Rafael Nadal, the man who beat Federer at Roland
Garros in the 2006-08 finals and the 2005 semifinals, too. But
Nadal's 31-match French Open winning streak ended this year with a
fourth-round loss to the hard-hitting Soderling.
"I knew the day Rafa won't be in the finals, I will be there,
and I will win. I always knew that, and I believed in it. That's
exactly what happened," the second-seeded Federer said. "It's
funny. I didn't hope for it. But I believed in it."
Only 7-13 against Nadal, Federer entered Sunday 9-0 against
Soderling and, other than the threat of postponement because of
rain, there was never any doubt that would become 10-0 by day's
end.
That's because Federer showed off the athleticism and artistry
that carried him to five championships at Wimbledon, the last five
at the U.S. Open and three at the Australian Open. Federer hit more
aces than Soderling, 16-2. He broke Soderling four times. He won 40
of the first 47 points on his serve. He won five points with
delicate drop shots.
Federer was outstanding at the start, taking a 4-0 lead, and
close to perfect in the tiebreaker. That was Soderling's chance to
get into the match, but Federer wouldn't allow it: The Swiss star
served four points - and all four were aces, ranging from 118 mph
to 132 mph.
Federer called it "one of the greatest tiebreakers in my
career."
Soderling never really stood a chance, not against Federer, not
on this day, not on this stage.
"You really gave me a lesson in how to play tennis," Soderling
told Federer.
This was Federer's 19th Grand Slam final, equaling Ivan Lendl's
record, and Soderling's first. Soderling not only shocked Nadal -
and the entire tennis world - but also beat No. 10 Nikolay
Davydenko, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez and No. 14 David Ferrer.
"Every time I played Roger, after the match, I always said, 'I
played so bad today.' Now I learned that it's not that I played
bad," Soderling said. "He makes me play bad."
For only two moments was Federer the least bit shaken: As the
last few points were played - victory tantalizingly close - and
during a bizarre and worrisome episode when a man jumped over the
photographer's pit and ran on the court.
It happened after the first point at 2-1 in the second set, and
the intruder went right up to Federer and tried to put a red hat on
him. Federer brushed the man aside before security guards even got
close enough to intervene. After hopping the net, the man was
tackled and jailed for questioning.
"A touch scary," Federer said, lamenting he didn't ask for a
chance to gather himself. "It definitely felt uncomfortable once
he came close to me. Looking back, it definitely threw me out of my
rhythm a little bit."
Federer looked up at his pregnant wife, Mirka, and adjusted his
headband, but soon was playing again. He lost that game at love,
then quickly settled back into a groove.
Until, that is, the countdown to a championship had gone from
matches to sets to games to points.
Waiting in his changeover chair at 5-4 in the third set, Federer
shook his legs to stay loose and took a few sips of water, then
wiped his face with a towel. Stepping back on court to try to serve
out the match, he was churning inside.
"You can imagine how difficult that game was," Federer said.
"It was almost unplayable for me."
He put a forehand into the net. He sailed a backhand long. He
shanked a swinging forehand volley 3 feet beyond the baseline to
give Soderling a break point.
"My mind was always wondering, 'What if? What if I win this
tournament?"' Federer said.
He gathered himself, of course, and won the next three points -
the last three points of a tournament that meant so much to
Federer.
For the next 40 minutes, he stayed on that court, relishing it
instead of dreading it. Federer accepted the trophy from Andre
Agassi, whose 1999 French Open title made him the last man with a
full set of Grand Slam trophies.
"I'm so happy for you, man," Agassi told Federer. Later,
Agassi said: "Roger has earned his place, his rightful place, in
the game, and winning here was just something that would have been
a bit of a crime if he never did."
Federer won three major titles each in 2004, 2006 and 2007, but
2008 was a struggle by his - and only his - lofty standards. Slowed
by mononucleosis, he lost in last year's Australian Open semifinals
- the only one of the past 16 Grand Slam tournaments at which
Federer didn't reach the final. He absorbed the most lopsided Grand
Slam loss of his career in the 2008 French Open final against
Nadal, then lost to Nadal again in the Wimbledon final, 9-7 in the
fifth set. He also lost the No. 1 ranking to Nadal, before winning
the U.S. Open in September.
Then came another five-set setback against Nadal in this year's
Australian Open final, and Federer's anguish was there for the
world to see when he wept during the postmatch ceremony.
Four months later, on Sunday, Federer cried on court again. When
the Swiss national anthem played for the first time after a French
Open men's final, tears rolled down Federer's cheeks, that silver
trophy nestled in his arms.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
