Men's French Open Final

SI Staff | Jun 11, 2006

Men's French Open Final /

Men's French Open Final

Rafael Nadal became the youngest man to win consecutive championships at Roland Garros since Bjorn Borg in 1974-75.

Roger Federer came up short in his bid from becoming only the third man to hold all four major titles at the same time.

Rafael Nadal's victory on Sunday left him 4-0 against Roger Federer in 2006.

Rafael Nadal won the first meeting of the two top-seeded men in a Roland Garros final since 1984.

Roger Federer fell to 0-4 against Rafael Nadal this year; he's 44-0 against everyone else.

Roger Federer's first loss in eight Grand Slam finals came at the only major he has yet to win.

Rafael Nadal improved to 24-0 on clay this year and 14-0 in two appearances at Roland Garros.

The 20-year-old Rafael Nadal knocked off top-seeded Roger Federer 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Rafael Nadal earned his second successive Roland Garros title and extended his record clay-court winning streak to 60 matches.

Content to duel from the baseline, Roger Federer had 51 unforced errors to 28 by Rafael Nadal.

Rafael Nadal also is the first player to beat Roger Federer in a Grand Slam final, as the Swiss entered Sunday 7-0 in that category, the best suchstart to a career since the 1880s.

In the third set, Rafael Nadal used a 114 mph kick serve for an ace to erase the last of four break points in the fourth game.

Roger Federer was trying to join Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962, 1969) as the only men to win Wimbledon, U.S. Open, Australian Open and French Open championships all in a row.

Published Jun 11, 2006

SI STAFF