French Open 2007: Men's Final Preview

Roger Federer SUI (1) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2)
World #1 Roger Federer has done something (twice) that his idol Pete Sampras never did: he has played in the Roland Garros final. Pete Sampras has the most important record in men's tennis: most Grand Slam singles titles in history. The match up between Nadal and Federer tomorrow is historic. Nadal has never lost at Roland Garros, he has a perfect record of 20-0. Two of those wins were over Federer, in the 2005 semifinals (6-3 4-6 6-4 6-3) and last year's final (1-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(4)). Although Federer won a set in both matches the contests were not really as close as the scores indicate. Nadal had an 81 match winning streak on clay that Federer ended in the Hamburg final on May 20 by coming back from a set down to win relatively easily against a mentally (and possibly physically) exhausted Nadal 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. Nadal's achievements could arguably indicate that on clay he is the best ever; there and he has been more dominant on this surface than Federer (or Sampras) are on grass or McEnroe on hard courts.

However, the person he is playing has been the #1 player for the last 174 weeks (since February 2, 2004) and has been in the last 8 Grand Slam finals, winning six of them. At age 25, he has won 10 Grand Slam titles (from the last 15 majors played) and currently possesses the last 4 Wimbledon titles and the last 3 U.S. Opens. The question for most commentatirs and avid tennis fans alike is not whether Federer will break Sampras' record, but when (I think it will be Wimbledon 2009). If Federer wins the match against Nadal, he will have achieved a Grand Slam, the achievement of possessing all 4 major titles smilutaneously and will almost instantly be crowned Greatest Of All Time. That it is Nadal, a player who has 7-4 lifetime edge against him, that he has to beat to reach this pinnacle places the match above mere sporting contest but launches it into the dizzing heights of popular consciousness, media spotlights and operatic drama. (To put this in perspective, Federer has a 9-0 lifetime record against World #3 Nikolai Davydenko, is 13-1 against World #4 Andy Roddick and is 10-0 against World #5 Fernando Gonzalez).

Already the two have played a match before which was the best men's tennis match of 2006, the Rome ATP Master Series final, a 305-minute, 5-set classic, featuring 3 tiebreaks, 2 saved match points that was won by Nadal on his first (and only) match point: 6-7 (0), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5). Broadcasters are salivating for a repeat match at that level but I doubt such a stunning contest can ever be duplicated. Federer beating Nadal for the first time on clay in Hamburg was huge, he has often turned around rivalries where players were consistently beating him to here he now has decisive edges (David Nalbandian, Tim Henman). I suspect that is the kind of result we will see on Sunday, when Roger Federer wins his 11th Grand Slam title.

PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.