Clay king reigns supreme - Gritty Nadal wears down Soderling to claim fifth French Open title

PARIS (AP):

Rafael Nadal won his fifth French Open title yesterday, beating Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to reclaim his unofficial crown as the King of Clay.

Chasing down shots all over the court, the relentless Spaniard also avenged his lone Roland Garros defeat. He improved to 38-1 at the French Open, with the only loss to Soderling in the fourth round a year ago.

"It's the most emotional day in my career," Nadal told the crowd in French during the trophy ceremony.

His bad memories of 2009 included not only that upset loss to Soderling in Paris, but the separation of his parents and knee tendinitis that contributed to a prolonged slump.

"It was a difficult year for me last year," he said. "It was difficult to accept the injuries and everything."

The victory ended his longest Grand Slam drought since winning his first major title at Roland Garros in 2005.

Seeded number two, Nadal won with dogged defence. He won seven consecutive games midway through the match and held every serve, saving all eight break points he faced.

"I played my best match against you," Nadal told the Swede during the trophy ceremony. "If not, it's going to be impossible to beat you."

Nadal became the second man to win the French Open at least five times and next year he will have a chance to match Bjorn Borg's record of six titles.

"It's really impressive," Soderling told Nadal. "If you continue like this, you will sure have the chance to win many more."

With the victory, Nadal will also reclaim the No. 1 ranking today, supplanting Roger Federer.

No major title

Soderling, who has yet to win a major title, finished as the runner-up for the second year in a row. In 2009 he lost in the final to Federer.

"I love this tournament," he said. "I will come back next year and I hope I'll be third time lucky then."

When Soderling's final shot landed in the net, Nadal slid onto his back, threw up his fists and rose, shaking from his hair the clay he loves. When he sat down, he began to cry.

"It was a really emotional moment for me," he said. "After you win this big title, you lose your tension."

The weather was mild and mostly cloudy - a nice day to go running and Nadal did plenty of it. Playing farther behind the baseline than in their match last year, he skidded across the clay and lunged to dig shots out of the corners, repeatedly extending points until Soderling finally misfired.

Soderling tried to win points quickly and sometimes did, but most of the long rallies went Nadal's way. Before the first set ended, the Swede was panting between points.

To compound Soderling's woes, he had an off day with his serve, his biggest weapon. He totalled only seven aces, the same number Nadal. For the other six rounds, Soderling had 75 aces, Nadal 12.

"I didn't play as good this year as I did against him last year," Soderling said. "I didn't serve as well. I wasn't hitting the ball as clean. It was tough today. I didn't really get into the match."

He added: "That's why he's so good - because he's moving so well and gets everything back," Soderling said. "He's a great defensive player, but also has a great offensive game, as well. He can really change defence to offense really quick."