• French Open, Day 15

Nadal fends off Federer to claim sixth French Open title

Rafael Nadal clinched his 10th grand slam title © PA Photos

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Rafael Nadal held off a determined Roger Federer to claim a record-equalling sixth French Open title and hold onto his No. 1 ranking.

Nadal successfully defended his title in Paris with a 7-5 7-6(3) 5-7 6-1 win to see him equal Bjorn Borg's record of six titles at Roland Garros, but he was forced to dig deep after a poor start.

The last time the pair met in Paris, Nadal restricted Federer to just four games in the most one-sided French Open final since 1977, but this time it was a very different matter as the Swiss burst out of the blocks and raced to an early lead.

He showed no signs of nerves as he held to love, and was rewarded for his unrelenting pressure with an early break before consolidating his lead with another solid service game.

Coming into match, Federer had been in stunning form and was coming off the back of a memorable semi-final victory which ended Novak Djokovic's unbeaten start to 2011. And as he blazed to a 3-0 lead, Federer was firmly in control of the match as Nadal had no answer to Federer's precision and power.

Serving to stay in the set at 5-2 down, the Spaniard was forced to save set point, but showed signs of resurgence as he began to find his range. And he showed why he has only suffered one defeat in six years at Roland Garros, as a gritty and determined performance enabled him to complete a remarkable turnaround, winning five straight games to snatch the opening set.

Having weathered the early storm, the tide had turned in Nadal's favour as he began to dictate play and, with Federer's resistance broken, Nadal began the second set in same vein in which he finished the first; an early break tightened his grip on the match as he produced his first love service game.

Federer eventually managed to stop the rot - a run of seven consecutive points on his serve, aided by two aces - but Nadal would not relent, as his opponent was forced to rely on his serve to hang on.

Roger Federer had periods of brilliance - but was unable to sustain his challenge © Getty Images

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Just as it looked like Federer was beaten, however, his shots began to find the corners again, and for the first time in over an hour began to put the pressure on once more, and his reluctance to accept defeat saw him claw his way back into the set.

Nadal appeared to quash any hopes of a comeback as he broke straight back, but as he served for the set, his progress was hampered by a brief rain delay. In a dramatic twist, it was Federer who emerged from the changing room the more composed, and he saved set point before breaking Nadal, subsequently forcing a tiebreak.

But Nadal hung on to take a two-set lead, and when he broke to go 4-2 up in the third, the finish line was in sight. With Federer serving to stay in the match, the Swiss produced the best tennis of the match to hold in emphatic fashion, winning three games in a row to complete a remarkable turnaround to force a fourth set.

Nadal has been the first person to admit he has not been at his best this year, and even admitted he wasn't playing well enough to win the tournament, but the mark of a true champion is the ability to grind out results regardless.

With Federer once more in the ascendancy, Nadal showed real strength of character to save three break points to prevent the Swiss from taking an early lead in the fourth set, and Federer's first double fault of the day handed Nadal three break points, which he grabbed with both hands to move within sight of victory once again.

While it may not have been as emphatic as his 6-1 6-3 6-0 victory in the 2008 final, it was a hard-fought gritty performance from the man who has now firmly staked his claim to be the greatest clay court player of all time.

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