KINGDOM OF CLAY... RECONQUERED!

The King of Clay has recaptured his Kingdom! Spaniard Rafael Nadal beat Swede Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 on the Phillipe Chatrier Court at Roland Garros, Paris to reclaim the French Open Title (his 5th) and overall his 7th Grand Slam title.

In the process, Rafael Nadal has once again dethroned Roger Federer from the No. 1 spot in the ATP Tour Singles Rankings... leaving Federer 1 week short of equalling Pete Sampras' record of the highest number of weeks at the top of ATP Rankings. Federer may eventually get there, especially with the grass court season beginning, but it will take some time. Right now, it's Rafa time!

The clinical efficiency with which Rafa broke Sod down in the finals left everyone convinced that Rafa was back at his best... atleast on clay! He retrieved everything thrown at him by the Swede... some of his passes were simply unbelievable! There was one particular forehand down the line that he hit on the run coming into the service line that left me speechless. He was not supposed to reach that ball... let alone grab a winner out of it!

The Swede started positively... but Rafa weathered that storm and fought out a break. The first set was decided then. He did face two break points after that... but he saved them. In the second set, when he got the second break on Sod's serve, the match was decided. Soderling just looked like he was going through the formalities. He had realised that he was meeting Rafa on a you-cannot-beat-me-today day.

The only concern that I have with Rafa after his unbeaten season on clay is that his game did not look good enough for when the grass court and the hard court season begins. When Rafa had won against Federer at the Roland Garros final in 2008, he looked good to usurp Federer's Wimbledon crown as well... which he did. Today, however, his game does not look as if it will survive the latter stages of Wimbledon and the US Open.

His retrieving was at its best... no doubt about that! But somehow, I feel that it will not be enough on grass and hard courts. He will have to start coming to the nets a lot more... something he had done extremely well in 2008. We know that he has the ability to change his game when the need arises... but he has less than 3 weeks before the Wimbledon begins on 21st June 2010.

For now, its just congratulations to Rafa... and keep up the winning habit!