Roger Federer wins the French Open at Roland Garros
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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Image: James Barrett.
Swiss tennis player Roger Federer won his first Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros (French Open) championship on Sunday by defeating Robin Söderling from Sweden 6-1 7-6(1) 6-4 in Paris. In winning this tournament, Federer joins Pete Sampras with 14 Grand Slam tournaments won and along with Andre Agassi is the second man in the Open Era (since 1968) to clinch all four major tournaments. In the last four years, only Rafael Nadal has stopped Federer from winning the French Grand Slam title missing from his collection.
The match took place in bad weather conditions with light rain and strong winds during the first two sets, a situation which became worse during the third. Uneasy and visibly nervous, Söderling lost the first set in just 23 minutes. In the second, he began to play better tennis and at 2-1, after an interruption by a man on court, Federer seemed to lose power. He finally clinched the tie-break 7-1 by shooting four aces. The third set was won 6-4 by Federer who fell to the ground, sobbing.
After the match, Söderling said that Federer was the "greatest player of all times" and that Federer gave him "a lesson of tennis."
In the 2009 ATP Ranking, Federer moves closer to Nadal after he lost to Söderling in the fourth round. Before the tournament, Nadal had a 4500 points lead. Since Monday, he has a 2070 point lead. The next Grand Slam tournament is Wimbledon in London and begins on June 22, 2009.
Sources
- David Tutton. "Flawless Federer storms to historic first French crown" — French Open, June 7, 2009
- Christopher Clarey. "The Greatest? Federer’s Victory Fills Last Hole on His Résumé" — The New York Times, June 7, 2009
- Steve Bierley. "Roger Federer wins at Roland Garros to enter pantheon of grand slam greats" — The Guardian, June 7, 2009
