With victory, Roland Garros royalty is crowned
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The Miami Herald
June 6, 2005 Monday F1 EDITION
PARIS -- Two kings clasped hands at the court of Roland Garros on Sunday, the elegant one in his blue suit and striped tie and the sweaty one with wet, tousled hair in a clay-stained tennis shirt and white Capri pants.
King Juan Carlos of Spain bent down from the VIP box to congratulate French Open winner Rafael Nadal. After their embrace, a smudge of red clay stuck to Juan Carlos' sleeve. Nadal had left his mark, on the monarch and on tennis.
The champion's coronation followed, and Nadal impishly pantomimed a gulp from the silver Musketeers' Cup.
The City of Light has been a springboard for so many young geniuses who shook up the artistic or literary worlds. Now Nadal is shaking up his sport.
The 19-year-old from the island of Majorca became the first teenage Grand Slam winner since Pete Sampras won the 1990 U.S. Open. Nadal did it by fighting off three set points and running Argentina's Mariano Puerta into submission in a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 victory.
Not since Gustavo Kuerten drew a heart in the dirt with his racket has Paris been so enchanted with its king of clay.
''Vamos!'' yelled Nadal, punching the air with his undercuts after spectacular shots.
''Rafa!'' yelled the crowd, loving every emotional outburst, down-the-line forehand and whipping backhand. They also love his fashion sense -- those funny pants and the sleeveless shirts that accentuate his bulging biceps.
NO EASY MARK
In the first all-left-handed final here since 1959, the unseeded Puerta was supposed to be anticlimactic easy pickings for Nadal, who beat No. 1-ranked Roger Federer on Friday.
Puerta has clawed his way back from no-name status via obscure challenger circuit tournaments in Iran and Uzbekistan after a nine-month ban because of a positive drug test. Making the final was his vindication, but early on it looked like he might conjure an upset, as unseeded countryman Gaston Gaudio did last year. He kept Nadal on his heels and won the first-set tiebreaker 8-6.
Then Nadal calmed down and revved up. Puerta got to see why Nadal has won 24 matches and four tournaments in a row.
Nadal moves like a cheetah over a plain, dashing here and there, from corner to corner, from baseline to net, accelerating from 0 to full speed in a millisecond and changing direction in the blink of an eye. He's everywhere at once. But he's more than a human backboard; he's a ball machine gone berserk, firing cannon shots from impossible angles.
Sometimes he floats, sometimes he chugs, sometimes he slides but always he eats up the ground so quickly you expect a cloud of dust in his wake.
His footwork is as exhilarating as a well-choreographed Broadway number. He leaves fans breathless, but never seems to get tired.
Try as he might, Puerta could not win a game of keep-away with Nadal. ''He kept fetching shots,'' Puerta said. ''One point was one centimeter away or I would still be playing now. I lost to the best player on clay. What could I do?''
Nadal returned a lob way over his head for a winner. He dug what should have been a cross-court winner from Puerta out of the dirt and slashed a backhand winner of his own.
On the thrilling, deciding rally of the match, Puerta tried slicing a soft shot to midcourt. Nadal scrambled to return it. Puerta tried smashing the ball at Nadal's heart, but Nadal reflex-volleyed it right back and the stunned Puerta knocked it wide. Nadal skipped and pumped his fist. It was 5-5. Puerta had wasted three set points and didn't recover. Nadal held serve in the next game and broke Puerta in the last one.
As on Friday, Nadal did a spread-eagle in the clay. He climbed into the stands to hug his family members. The clay rubbed off on them, too. Back on the court, Nadal sat down and sobbed into his towel.
''Everything comes upon you -- all the work and sacrifice over the years,'' he said. ''For the first time, I cried after a match.''
We can expect Nadal to do more than Michael Chang, who won his first Grand Slam title here at 17 but never won another. Nadal is hearing the raves now. He's being compared to Boris Becker, Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander, past teen Slam champions.
ROOM TO IMPROVE
He has power and creativity in that left hand, which must be made for tennis because he writes and eats with his right hand. Like the best in history, he rises at the key moments of matches rather than faltering.
What he has to prove is his versatility. There have been so many who thrived on the clay of Roland Garros but nowhere else. Nadal admits his serve needs work, as does his volley. But he's ready to do the work. He's excited about Wimbledon.
''This trophy for the Spanish players is No. 1, and for Federer, it's Wimbledon and for the Americans, it's the U.S. Open. I'm willing to take any of them,'' he said. ''On grass, I can't challenge for a title right now. The truth is the truth. I need to improve.''
The best thing he has going for him is his infectious joy. He trains at home, with his uncle, to stay grounded.
''I will continue to be the same person,'' he said. ''Just a boy. I'm not going to change anything because I won this trophy.''
Don't let the fist pumps fool you. He's a humble kid. He prefers his headband to a crown. |
