His only loss on clay came in Rome to countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero, when he was obviously exhausted after two weeks of play at Monte Carlo and Barcelona and had a bad case of blisters on his feet.
But after he scored a relentless 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3 over Federer in Hamburg, and sat back and thought about how he also managed to push world No. 3 Novak Djokovic back in a three- hour classic in the semifinals, the Spaniard was full of much-deserved bravado.
"For sure this has given me more confidence for Roland Garros," said Nadal said, who will attempt to become the first man since Bjorn Borg from 1978-1981 to win four straight Roland Garros titles.
Nadal is now 8-1 against the great Swiss on clay, including victories during the last three years at Roland Garros - in the 2005 semifinals, and the 2006 and 2007 finals. Then and more recently, Nadal proved that despite frequent tactical shifts by Federer, that he's simply a better clay court player than Federer is.
On clay, Nadal is faster, a more dogged and accomplished defender and his most feared shot - his heavy, hooking left handed forehand, eats Federer's one-handed backhand alive. Nadal's backhand is super solid and has more variety now; he has an improved drop shot and while his serve doesn't kill, it does maim.
“Rafael is the best of the best on clay courts, just like Roger is on other surfaces,” former top-5 player Todd Martin said. “With that said, Roger is the second best clay court player in the world. What that means is that there will be times when Roger can upset Rafa on clay, but a lot of things have to be going well for him for that to happen.”
Federer recently hired a new coach, former Roland Garros quarterfinalist Jose Higueras, the Spaniard who coached Americans Michael Chang and Jim Courier to French titles. While Higueras is widely considered one of the smartest coaches around, whether he can devise a strategy to hurt Nadal is an open question. Federer has only won one title this year, Estoril on clay.
“Jose is obviously aware of the Spanish mindset and of Rafa's game,” said Martin. “Jose won't withhold opinions and will assert his authority.”
In order for him to have any chance at grabbing the one Grand Slam title that eludes him, Federer will have to assert his authority on court, too. While he and Nadal are favored to reach the final once again, Djokovic is a bigger threat than he was last year, when he scraped his way to the semis.
The ATP Points Race leader this year, Djokovic won his first Slam at the Australian Open, and took Masters Series shields at Indian Wells and Rome. He's aiming for the top spot and has taken down both Federer and Nadal before. While the Serbian claims hardcourts is his favorite surface, he has a clay court upbringing, is rock solid from the baseline and has power and variety to go very far.
Outside of the newly christened Big 3, there are a slew of capable men who are hoping to sneak through to the semis or possibly a final in the draw breaks open. Leading that cast of characters is Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who reached the semifinals last year and upset American Andy Roddick and Nadal in winning Miami. Ferrer, who had a career year last year by reaching the US semifinals and the Shanghai finals, has the pedigree to win on the surface, but appears to have lost a bit of confidence. Two of Ferrer's fellow Spaniards, young Nicolas Almagro and veteran Tommy Robredo, can last forever on dirt, and former champions Ferrero and Carlos Moya are always capable of heroics.
Chilean Fernando Gonzalez leads a threatening pack of South Americans, along with Argentines David Nalbandian and Juan Monaco.
France will count on the inspired play of Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the revived Paul Henri Mathieu and hope that Richard Gasquet rediscovers his impressive all-around game.
Britain is praying that the promising Scot, Andy Murray, finally breaks through at a Slam, while with Roddick out of with an injury, America is pinning its hopes on the athletic James Blake.
Spoilers include Swiss number two Stan Wawrinka, and the streaky Russians, Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny.
Source: By French Open official release.
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