Federer looks to stop Nadal

Paris, June 7: Rafael Nadal, who has survived torrential rain as well as a Roland Garros centre court dustbowl, now plans to unleash a hurricane which will deliver him an historic fourth successive French Open.

If things go as expected in Sunday’s final, the Spanish claycourt king’s perfect storm will also wash away once again Roger Federer’s slim hopes of finally adding an elusive French Open to his 12 Grand Slam titles.

Victory will make Nadal, just turned 22, only the second man after Bjorn Borg to win four titles here in successive years and take his career record at Roland Garros, the toughest of all the majors, to a perfect 28 wins in 28 matches.

The weight of statistics in Nadal’s favour only increases the burden for Federer who has been beaten by the Spaniard here in the last three years, including the two most recent finals.

Nadal has reached the final without dropping a set for the second year running; only once, in Friday’s semi-final win over Novak Djokovic, was he even stretched to a tiebreak. —AFP