Rafael Nadal is congratulated by Roger Federer after his crushing win over the Swiss. Photo / AP
Rafael Nadal is congratulated by Roger Federer after his crushing win over the Swiss. Photo / AP
It's rough enough for Roger Federer — well, let's be honest, anyone holding a tennis racquet — to try to deal with Rafael Nadal's unflinching excellence on the French Open's red clay in Paris.
Mix in a wild wind, and Federer, so great for so long against anyone else and anywhere else, morphed into merely good. And good — even Federer's brand of good — was not nearly enough yesterday.
Nadal made quick work of Federer in their first meeting at Roland Garros since 2011, outperforming his rival 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to reach his record 12th final in Paris as he pursues a record 12th championship.
This was Federer's most lopsided grand slam defeat since he gathered a measly four games in a loss to Nadal in the 2008 French Open title match.
"He makes you feel uncomfortable the way he defends the court and plays on clay. There is nobody who even plays remotely close to him," said Federer, who hadn't entered the tournament since 2015.
He's also never lost to Federer at Roland Garros, improving to 6-0. Overall, Nadal leads their series 24-15. Federer had won their past five meetings but those were all on hard courts.
Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates winning his semifinal match of the French Open. Photo / AP
It's a different task to take on Nadal on clay in general and at the French Open in particular, where he is 92-2 for his career.
In tonight's final, No2-seeded Nadal will play No1 Novak Djokovic or No4 Dominic Thiem. Their semifinal, played second yesterday, was suspended for the day in the third set because of rain in the evening. Thiem was leading 6-2, 3-6, 3-1 when play was halted.
About 45 minutes later, officials announced the match would resume overnight. That means whoever wins would be competing for a fourth day in a row in the final against a well-rested Nadal.
This was the first time since 2011 the four top-seeded men were in the Roland Garros semifinals.
In the women's final overnight, Australian No8 Ash Barty faced unseeded 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. It's the first time either has played for a major title.
Nadal, meanwhile, is bidding for his 18th. Among men, only Federer has more, with 20.
Like so many times before, it was Nadal's topspin-heavy lefty forehand, his relentless ball-chasing and his return game that gave Federer fits. Even frustrated the guy so much that the generally stoic Federer smacked a tennis ball toward the stands after getting broken to trail 2-1 in the third set.
It would soon be over.
"It's just amazing how he plays from deep and then is able to bounce back and forth from the baseline," Federer said.
Roger Federer waves goodbye after losing his semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament against Rafael Nadal. Photo / AP
"I didn't play a poor two first sets, in my opinion. I thought Rafa really had to come up with the goods to make the difference, and the difference was a passing shot here, a pick-up there."
Blithely put. The fact is, Nadal's passes and pick-ups — not to mention his reflexes — are not of this world.
More than once, he slid to his right, beyond the doubles alley, to extend a point by retrieving the seemingly irretrievable with a backhand, then followed it up by sprinting to his left for a jaw-droppingly precise forehand that flew out of Federer's reach and veered to land near a line.
And more than once, Nadal punctuated the point by pumping his fist and yelling, "Vamos!"
The wind was so unchecked that it knocked a tarp off its moorings behind a baseline. It tossed loose dirt from the court into both players' eyes, so much so that Federer joked it felt as if they were playing in a sandbox. There was also drizzle and temperatures of about 15C — chilly for summer.
Enough to make one wish the retractable roof due to be installed before the 2020 French Open was already in place.
Even Nadal described the conditions as "so hard, so difficult to manage".
"It's just really complicated, you know," Federer said. "So you are trying to see how much can you do — or you cannot do. Are you playing flatter or with more spin? Are you keeping the ball in play? Are you going for stuff?"
With an aggressive, charge-to-the-net style, he had been broken a total of only four times by his first five opponents.
Spectators applaud Spain's Rafael Nadal and Switzerland's Roger Federer during their semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament. Photo / AP
But Federer was more hesitant against his nemesis, and Nadal won six of 13 return games.
The 37-year-old Federer was serenaded off the court by spectators' chants of his first name. He raised his right arm for a quick wave as he walked away — perhaps for the final time.
He missed the tournament in 2016 with a bad back, then skipped the entire clay-court circuit the next two years to prepare for grass and hard courts.
"I surprised myself, maybe, how deep I got in this tournament and how well I was able to play throughout," Federer said. "And next year? Just like with any other tournament, I don't know. We'll see what happens."
For Nadal, this was the latest impeccable performance in a recent resurgence. He entered May without a title in 2019, his worst start to a season in 15 years.
But the 33-year-old Spaniard began finding his form at last month's Italian Open, beating Djokovic in that final.
In Paris, Nadal is up to his annual standards.
"He's been playing better and better every week," said Nadal's coach, Carlos Moya, the 1998 French Open champion. "He's been playing well in this moment, which is his main goal: Roland Garros."
One more victory to go for a dozen titles in Paris.
