Federer finally rules Roland Garros
There will doubtless be those who suggest that Roger Federer’s long-desired championship at Roland Garros is tainted, because he didn’t have to defeat Rafael Nadal in order to win it.
I will not be one of those. To be sure, a victory over Nadal would have been more dramatic and much sweeter. It would invoke more staying power in people’s memories. And it’s also true that – not so unexpectedly, really – the moment was just too much for Robin Soderling, playing in his first Grand Slam final (he had never so much as reached the quarters previously).
But Federer was the best player on this fortnight, and that’s what any championship is about. If we go through the lists of titlists in any sport, almost all of them at some point have won a final against someone other than their chief archrivals. It’s just the nature of sport, and there will be no asterisk beside Federer’s name, explaining that he did not have to defeat Nadal in order to win the 2009 Roland Garros crown. Nadal on this occasion was not good enough to beat Roger’s eventual finals opponent. He was not good enough to win Roland Garros in 2009; Roger was.
Today we are reminded why it has been so important for Federer to improve continually, to keep putting himself in positions where he has a chance to win, even on the clay at the French, where supposedly he would never succeed. There were many naysayers who said he could never beat Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros, and therefore would never win the title. But nonetheless, he became the second-greatest claycourter of his time. Only Nadal himself was able to stop Federer at Roland Garros for the last four years. It is therefore not a cheap victory, but entirely fitting, that the man who invested so much of himself in winning this tournament has finally done so. This could never have happened had Federer resigned himself to being an also-ran on clay.
This tournament has raised all sorts of other questions. What does this event do to the confidence of both Nadal and Federer, respectively, heading into Wimbledon? Will Federer reclaim, not only his Wimbledon title, but the number one ranking? Even if Nadal’s tendonitis was some sort of factor, has Soderling’s dominant performance against him shown the way for other players to present a real challenge to Rafa – even on clay? And what of Soderling himself: has he finally turned a corner, so that the promise of his talent will be fulfilled to the extent that he can challenge repeatedly at the majors?
The coming months promise some very interesting storylines….