rogerfederer.com - Paris stays a dream

Paris stays a dream

Roger’s dream of the Grand Slam has once again been destroyed by Rafael Nadal. Our star simply committed too many rrors with Rafa showing a very constant performance: 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6.

“I am a little sad about the way I played,” said Roger. “I have not accomplished what I had planned. But this was certainly not the last time I played here, I’ll try again next year.”

 Roger beat Nadal in the Hamburg Masters final in May to end the Spaniard's record 81-match winning streak on clay, but he never really looked like winning today. He failed to convert his first 11 breakpoint chances, putting pressure on his own serve by repeatedly allowing Nadal to hold. Nadal saved 16 of 17 break points and broke serve four times in 10 chances. He had only 27 unforced errors to 59 for Roger.

Nadal relentlessly probed his opponent's weaker side, sometimes forcing Roger to hit half a dozen backhands in a rally. Roger did have chances to take command at different points in the match - but unfortunately never really succeeded.