Roger Federer may be the greatest men's tennis player of all time, but there's one man, Rafael Nadal, who has his number. Nadal defeated Federer for the 17th time in his career Sunday, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, to earn his sixth French Open and ninth overall major title. Nadal is now 6-2 against Federer in the finals of a major championship. Federer still has a record 16 major titles.
↵If you missed the match, it was tightly contested throughout despite the seemingly lopsided victory. Nadal did an excellent job of sticking to his game plan, while Federer played catch up most of the day. The turning point in the match came in the second set, which was tied 4-4. Federer seemed to gain momentum after winning the previous game 40-0, but Nadal answered back with a fiery to win the set in a tiebreak, 7-3.
↵In the third set, Federer grinded out a 7-5 victory to gain some momentum back, but Nadal cemented his victory by dominating the fourth set. It also must be pointed out that Federer grabbed a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Nadal rallied to win 7-5.