Last year Rafael Nadal was forced to give up the Coupe des Mousquetaires (The Musketeers’ Trophy), the trophy awarded to the men’s singles winner at the French Open, after he was ousted in the fourth round by Robin Soderling. But this time the Spaniard made sure that it won’t happen the second time around at the final of this year’s Roland Garros.
Battling against the same player that defeated him last year, Nadal only needed a little over two hours to humble his Swedish opponent in straight sets 64 62 64 to raise the trophy for the fifth time in his career.
“Very important victory for me. I think one of the most important victories in my career,” Nadal said.
“It was a difficult year for me the last year. I worked a lot to be here. I was very nervous during all the tournament, because I know before that I was ready to try to win another time, and I saw the chances there. But the very positive thing is today I was ready to play. I was ready to play with calm and to try my best and to enjoy the match. I did, and it was a very special day,” he added.
The win in Paris also catapulted Nadal back at the top of the world rankings, overtaking Roger Federer, who lost in the quarterfinals to Soderling.
Robin Soderling was bidding to become the first Swedish champion in Paris since Mats Wilander 22 years ago.
“I have to congratulate Rafa for his fifth victory here, it’s really impressive and if he continues to play like this he will have a chance to win many more,” he said.
“I will come back next year and hope it will be third time lucky,” Soderling added.
