French Open 2011 men’s final: Rafael Nadal v Roger Federer – live! | Katy Murrells

• Turn on the autorefresh button or hammer F5 for the latest • Email any musings to katy.murrells@guardian.co.uk • For more on the French Open click here Nadal 2-4 Federer* A rocket of a return from Federer gets it to 15-all. Nadal gives the line a fierce glare, before trudging over to serve again. He comes through to game to 30, finishing it off with a cross-court winner. Meanwhile Mick James is swearing at his TV: “Who is the BBC commentator who keeps saying “changeup” when he means “variation”? It’s so annoying, if this Wimbledon I’d suggest sending someone round to punch him.” Not sure Mick – I switched over to Eurosport when Sue Barker started flirting with Boris. Will get back to you on that one … *Nadal 1-4 Federer The longest rally of the match so far sees Nadal come out on top, 30-all. But Federer dismisses the danger by rattling off the next two points. He really couldn’t have asked for a better start. A few umbrellas go up on Philippe Chatrier, by the way. But thankfully they’re because of the sun rather than any imminent threat of rain. Nadal 1-3 Federer* At 30-all, Federer briefly thinks he’s brought up another break point with a forehand down the line, but the umpire overrules. Federer goes for another winner on the next point but miscues into the tramlines. Nadal gets his first game on the board, but he really hasn’t settled into this final yet. *Nadal 0-3 Federer Big serving from Federer. 15-0. 30-0. 40-0. 40-15. Game. What a start from apparently “fading” champion. And this from Matt Byron: “Is Nadal basically going to win this because of his fitness? He doesn’t seem as much of a tennis player as simply a human Duracell bunny, whose speed and power save him more often than his tennis abilities. For that reason, I think Federer is a much worthier champion. Even though he increasingly just looks like a faded star.” Nadal 0-2 Federer* Federer’s on the attack straight away, thumping a forehand drive volley and then forcing Nadal into an error. 0-30. Two points later and it’s 15-40. Two break points. Nadal saves the first with a great body serve and follow-up, and then Federer misses the second as he goes for broke on a forehand down the line. Deuce. Advantage Federer. Deuce. Advantage Federer. Nadal looks for all the world like he’s going to bury a short ball, but slams it into the net. Jeu and break Federer. And this from a slightly excited Gary Naylor: “Seeing the same individuals or teams in finals year-in year-out can get dull as familiarity breeds contempt. Doesn’t apply to these two though.” *Nadal 0-1 Federer (*denotes next server) Nadal sets out his tactics from the start, attacking Federer’s backhand in a lengthy exchange, but he goes long. An ace from Federer makes it 40-0, Nadal demands the umpire gets down from his chair to inspect the line but the call stands. Federer then dispatches a short ball to rattle through his opening service game to love. Tok, tok, tok, tok, tok, they’re warming up. Nadal is once again wearing his blue and white ensemble, Federer his red and white Swiss number. Not surprisingly, the Parisians sound quite up for this one. A few former champions are presented to the crowd, including Gustavo Kuerten and Jim Courier. And talking of former French Open champions, over on the BBC, Sue Barker is doing her best to flirt with Boris Becker. Meanwhile Federer will serve first. Here comes Roger. He does a quick interview in French, but the Eurosport translator comes to my rescue. Apparently Federer hopes things are going to be different to his previous French Open finals against Nadal and he’s out to do his very best. And here’s Rafa. He says it’s a big honour to play Federer and he’s looking forward to a really good match. And that’s about that. A weather update. British Eurosport are currently showing cycling and BBC Two seem more interested in the MotoGP, but according to Twitter at least the weather is holding at the moment, and there’s even a bit of sun. So we’re on for a 2pm start. Another name that can probably be added to the Team Federer list is Novak Djokovic. Should Federer win this afternoon, and prevent Nadal from equalling Bjorn Borg’s record of six French Open titles, Djokovic would be propelled to the world No1 ranking for the first time. If Nadal emerges victorious, he’ll keep hold of the top spot for another few weeks – at least until Wimbledon. In Nadal’s corner: Uncle Toni, Rafa’s girlfriend, probably a token Spanish sportsman or two. In Federer’s corner: Mrs Federer, coach Paul Annacone, the slightly scary Anna Wintour. Tale of the tape (well we do it for boxers, right?) Nadal-Federer 25 Age 29 6ft 1in Height 6ft 1in 13st 6lb Weight 13st 4lb 1 World ranking 3 45 Career titles 67 9 Grand slam titles 16 $40,052,402 Career prize money $62,497,310 16 Wins in past meetings 8 I think I’d rather sit on a sharp and rusty fence than call this one. Sure, Nadal’s the favourite with the bookies and rightly so, he’s priced at around 4-9 compared to Federer at 7-4. There’s no doubt he’s the better clay-court player, he’s only lost once at Roland Garros in 45 matches and has beaten Federer in the three previous French Open finals they’ve contested. But throughout this tournament it’s Federer who’s been playing the better tennis, and he produced the performance of the fortnight – and one of the best of the year so far – to end Djokovic’s unbeaten run. And having finally won the Coupe des Mousquetaires two years ago (after Robin Soderling accounted for Nadal in the fourth round), the pressure is off. For the first time against the Spaniard at Roland Garros, Federer can enjoy the occasion. And that might just allow him to pull off what would be, even by his standards, one of his greatest ever wins. Any thoughts? Ping them over on an email. Weather-permitting, play is due to get under way at 2pm BST. But the weathermen say there’s only a 20% chance of Roland Garros dodging the forecast storms this afternoon. Which could make it a rerun of the 2008 Wimbledon final. I doubt many would say no if it was. Afternoon all. So the ancien regime has been restored in Paris. For the first time since the 2009 Australian Open, and for just the second time since that Wimbledon encounter in 2008, it’s Roger versus Rafa in a grand slam final. Few at Roland Garros would have predicted this scenario a fortnight ago, when one bookmaker offered odds of 18-1 on Federer prevailing. The 29-year-old, down to No3 in the world and without a major final appearance in 16 months, was the half-forgotten man. All the talk was of Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s tussle for the No1 spot and whether Nadal could recover from back-to-back defeats to the Serb in the Madrid and Rome finals. But then Federer went and broke Djokovic’s 43-match, six-month stranglehold on the men’s game in a remarkable semi-final on Friday. “I wasn’t lying on the beach,’ said Federer after that match. “I continue to make sacrifices and, when it really counts, I’m at the big occasion. I have another opportunity here to beat Rafa and take another French Open title. I’m aware that I’ve got to play some extraordinary tennis, but I never stopped believing.” French Open 2011 French Open Rafael Nadal Roger Federer Tennis Katy Murrells guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.