Rafael Nadal regained his title of “King of Clay” winning the French Open singles title for a fifth time Sunday with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Robin Soderling of Sweden.
Only the great Bjorn Borg has won more singles titles (6) at the world’s premier clay court tournament as Nadal increased his career record at Roland Garros to 38-1.
Nadal’s only French blemish came at the hands of the defeated finalist Sunday, Soderling, who shocked the Spanish lefty in the fourth round last year. Nadal, however, was able to avenge the loss to Soderling.
“This is one of the most important wins of my career,” said Nadal to John McEnroe on NBC Sports television. “It is very emotional.”
The win also catapulted Nadal back to the No. 1 ranking ahead of Roger Federer and he appears likely to hold the ranking as Nadal has little ranking points to defend the rest of the year. Last year, Nadal was unable to defend his 2008 Wimbledon title due to injury and was a losing semifinalist at the US Open. Nadal last was ranked No. 1 on July 5, 2009. Nadal prevents Federer from equaling the all-time weeks-at-No.1 record of 286 weeks, held by Pete Sampras. Federer has been ranked No. 1 in 285 weeks.
The win also marked Nadal’s seventh major title, moving him into a tie for 12th place all-time tying him with John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, John Newcombe, Richard Sears, Bill Larned, Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste and William Renshaw.
McEnroe on NBC television called Nadal’s match “the best clay court match of the year” which is saying something since Nadal boasted a 22-0 clay-court record this year.
Nadal made only 16 unforced errors in the final and connected on 77 percent of his first serves and winning 74 percent of those points. The 24-year-old won the 2010 French title without losing a set – equaling a feat he also achieved in 2008.