Clay-king Rafael Nadal continued to reign supreme on the courts of Roland Garros, as he recorded back-to-back singles titles after defeating Roger Federer in the men’s final.

In what was the most anticipated match-up of the tournament, Nadal overcame a slow start to post a 1-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(4) victory over the world number one after three hours on court, taking his unblemished record to 14 wins at the Open.

Falling one match shy of becoming the third man to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once, and the sixth player to have won all four, Federer instead became the Spanish world number two’s 60th consecutive victim on his beloved clay surface.

Despite producing a greater number of winners (35 to 25), Federer’s unusually high unforced error count, nearly double that of his opponent’s for the match (51 to 28), and erratic rather than dependable backhand saw his progress halted after taking the opening set courtesy of a powerful display of groundstrokes and serving to the nervous play of Nadal.

But in quick-time Nadal’s game came to life and turned the tables on the Swiss, controlling play with his powerful forehand and overall confident play, with only one loss of serve throughout the remainder of the match and five opportunities for the breaking of his serve.

Slices of the Federer brilliance came to the forefront as he managed to break back to even the score as the defending champion served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set. Federer eventually forced the set to a tiebreaker but was unable to produce the goods to deny the only player to have defeated him in 2006 the win.

Commenting on the victory in a post-match press conference, Nadal felt the victory was more special than his win in 2005. “Is more special because I have difficult moments in the beginning of the season, the last year final season. So for me, is a dream stay here, no, No. 2 in the race, winning two Masters Series, one Grand Slam.”

Nadal now holds a 6-1 head-to-head lead as both players turn their attention to the short grass court season ahead with Wimbledon starting at the end of the month, where Federer will be looking to win his fourth straight men’s singles title.

Justine Henin-Hardenne won her third French Open title and successfully defended the 2005 title after defeating Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women singles final at Roland Garros on Saturday. The Belgian took the victory, beating Kuznetsova in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-4. It’s her fifth Grand Slam title in total.

Kuznetsova started with a break down in the first set. That was enough for Henin-Hardenne to take the first set.

In the second set Henin-Hardenne had to come back from being down one break and managed to win the title in 96 minutes in front of the 15.000 spectators at Court Philippe Chartrier under the hot sun.

“I am delighted to get my third win here. It has been a fantastic tournament, and it is a fantastic feeling to win again,” Henin-Hardenne said after she had shown the Cup Suzanne Lenglen to the crowd for the third time in her career.

“The first one was very emotional, because it was the first Grand Slam I won, and then it was the confirmation last year, and then this year. I cannot find the words to describe it right now. It is too early right now. Maybe I can answer your questions better tomorrow.

“It’s a really special feeling playing here, it is unique, and I love playing here.

“I suffered physically today. I was very tired, and I didn’t sleep well, but I played better on the big points. When I made the break at 3-3 in the second set, that was the turning point. The difference was only a couple of points today. I managed those moments better, even though we might say she was more solid than I was. I play tennis because of these very close situations. This tightness, when you are nervous on crucial points, on break points, that’s what I love,” the 24-year-old Belgian added.

“She played smart. She mixes up her game. She serves pretty well. And of course, I guess her mentality,” Kuznetsova said.

“It’s disappointing for sure, but it is still a final at Roland Garros. I am disappointed I didn’t take my chances, but Justine played a great match,” the Russian said.

Justine Henin-Hardenne and Svetlana Kuznetsova will battle each other at the final round of the Roland Garros women’s singles on Saturday. Henin-Hardenne leads in their career head-to-head wins, 10-1.

Henin-Hardenne came out victorious over compatriot Kim Clijsters in the all-Belgian battle for a place in the final round. Henin-Hardenne handily beat Clijsters in two sets, 6-3, 6-2. Though the two women started the game with good rhythm, Henin-Hardenne overcame the aggressive Clijsters by employing a good service game and committing few unforced errors. Henin-Hardenne reminded Clijsters why she was a two-time Roland Garros Open winner, by putting pressure on her and moving her from side to side on the court.

Clijsters has only praises for her opponent, “I think she is by far the best clay-court player,” said Clijsters.
Henin-Hardenne has this to say, “I served well. It was essential. I did not shiver in the key moments. I forced her into rallies, and I know she does not like that.” Henin-Hardenne’s victory over Clijsters further stretches her career head-to-heads to 11-09 wins.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the draw, Kuznetsova went past teenage sensation Nicole Vaidisova, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2, after being down at 5-3 in the first set. With Kuznetsova winning the first game of the first set, Vaidisova replied by winning the second game of the first set. Vaidisova then succeeded in taking the first set by taking risks and pressuring Kuznetsova. While in the second set, Vaidisova came close to advancing further into the final round, but Kuznetsova clawed her way and turned the tide against Vaidisova, winning the second set, and going for the third set.

A fully pumped-up Kuznetsova cruised on to win the first four games of the third set. Vaidisova could only manage to win two games, as Kuznetsova won the next two games and advanced into the final round of the Roland Garros tournament.

Vaidisova then left the court in tears, out of disappointment. “Of course I’m disappointed. I don’t like to lose, but I can be proud of what I did, and I’ll use the experience,” she said.

Kuznetsova could only sympathize with Vaidisova, “I know how it feels, because I’ve been in her position so many times, and I’ve done it.” With the win, Kuznetsova stretches her lead in career head-to-heads to 2-0.

Martina Hingis held off a determined challenge from 19-year-old Shahar Peer, defeating the young Israeli 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the fourth round of Roland Garros.Hingis Stops Peer; Reaches Quarterfinals

Both players entered the match having previously won their last tournaments: Rome for Hingis and Istanbul for Peer.

In a match that featured rallies and tactical point construction, both players appeared dead even in the first two sets before the match was suspended due to darkness late Sunday evening. When play was continued on Court 1 on Monday, the early stages of the set showed what a tight battle it was going to be. The first game lasted 14 minutes, which Hingis won on her 3rd break point. Peer immediately broke back and took a 2-1 lead before Hingis raised her level of play to reel off 4 straight games. Peer managed to break the Hingis serve for 5-3, but in the end surrendered the the final set 6-3 on an unforced error. The entire match took 2 hours and 8 minutes.

It was a well-played round for both players. Both fired more winners than unforced errors and chased down balls all over the court. At times it seemed as if Hingis got a little impatient and went for too much too soon, but when she finally settled, she opened up the court very well and won the points. Peer also showed why she won 2 clay tournaments this year before coming to Paris. She played solid tennis throughout and was especially strong in the second set.

Martina Hingis faces 2nd seed Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals. It will be a rematch of the Australian Open earlier this year, when the Belgian beat Hingis in 3 sets. About the prospect of meeting Clijsters again, Hingis had this to say,”I’ve made a lot of improvement since Australia. We’ll see. Just got to come up with the best”.

The quarterfinal takes place tomorrow.

The 2005 tournament has brought some memorable and exciting matches in the women’s draw, and has thrown up a few surprises. At the end of the week, the 1/4 finals have all (but one) been decided: Venus Williams will face the rising teenager Nicole Vaidisova; Svetlana Kuznetsova will meet her Rome nemesis Dinara Safina for the sixth time, Justine Henin-Hardenne takes on Anna-Lena Groenefeld for the first time inher career; and Kim Clijsters will face the resurgent Martina Hingis a two-time finalist (1997, 1999) and three-time semi-finalist (1998, 2000, 2001) at this event.

Of the 1/4 finalists, Martina Hingis, Nicole Vaidisova and Justine Henin-Hardenne have been the most impressive performers so far of the tournament. Hingis relinquished just eleven games in her first three matches. Against tougher opposition, including the 2004 champion Anastasia Myskina, Henin-Hardenne has surrendered 24 games in four matches, trouncing Myskina for a 6-1 5-0 lead in around 45 minutes before losing her focus at the initial point of victory.Aside from a few mid-match and match-finishing wobbles, Henin-Hardenne has been in good-to-imperious form, always stepping up through gears when she has needed to do so. Vaidisova may just be [I]the[/I]danger player at this year’s tournament. Having sailed through the first three rounds comfortably, she took out home favourite Amelie Mauremso with some flair (and a good dose of power), 67(5) 61 62. Though Venus Williams enjoys Vaidisova’s attacking baseline (andoccasionally all-court) style of play, it is likely that the seventeen year-old will prove a very difficult challenge for the more experienced American;Vaidisova may even be considered the favourite going into the match, having just won the tier III event at Strasbourg before walking onto the red clay at Roland Garros. She also comes to the 1/4 final with 20 matchwins (out of 27 played this year) under her belt,against William’s reduced 10-3 record, having been sidelined through most of season as a result of injury.

However, it is Martina Hingis that has provided themost consistently accomplished performances in the first week of play. Hingis outclassed Tour veteran Lisa Raymond in almost every department in their first round encounter, before providing two scintillating performances against Zuzana Ondraskova and Ivana Lisjak in rounds two and three respectively.Hingis attacked with verve, moved beautifully and never looked anything less than in full control - of both her opponent and the match itself. Having come through a tricky fourth-round encounter 6-3 2-6 6-3,held over two days, against the nineteen year-old Israeli Shahar Peer, Hingis should be at least competitive against the Clijsters, twice a finalist at this event.

Venus Williams who lost to Martina Hingis in their Rome semi-final, has played well despite very little match play going into the tournament. Still searching for the destructive form that brought her four Grand Slams titles in a fourteen month span, from Wimbledon2000 to the 2001 US Open, Williams marched through thefirst two rounds comfortably before defeating Karolina Sprem 7-5 6-3 in the most brutal, hardest-hitting match (by some distance) of tournament. As in the Venus vs Serena match-ups, the ‘unforced’ errors quickly mounted, yet the quality of the bal lstriking was frequently magnificent, and from both players. Williams is making more net approaches than any of the top players, including Henin-Hardenne, winning 24 of31 (or 77%) forays into the forecourt in her fourth round match against the Swiss Patty Schnyder. Williams also finished with healthy total of 35 winners against 34 unforced errors; against a top-drawer clay court opponent such as Schnyder this is an excellent statistic. Hingis has also taken tothe forecourt with some abandon, and with excellent results - winning around 70% of her net approaches,looking particularly effective.

Kim Clijsters has played her way through the first week with mixed results, before making a dramatic improvement to top form in her fourth round encounter against Daniela Hantuchova. Hantuchova was simply dismissed 6-1 6-4, in little more than an hour. Though not many people’s choice for the title,Clijsters has the movement, weaponry and experience goal the way at Roland Garros. The first two attributes could also be applied to Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has moved almost unnoticed to the fourth round achieving a 1-6 6-4 6-4 win against the still-improving Italian Francesca Schiavone.Kuznetsova was defeated 3-6 6-4 7-5 by Dinara Safina in an agonisingly close semi-final at Rome, the most prestigious (and oldest) Tour event played on clay. The Russian players enjoy an intense rivalry and Kuznetsova will be keen to extract revenge against aplayer that has defeated her three times in five meetings. Indeed, Kuznetsova’s only completed match win against Safina came in the qualifying round of 16at Madrid 2001, a life time away in terms of their 500-place leap up through the world rankings.

Anna-Lena Groenefeld has also made very quiet progress through this year’s tournament, defeating the talented Argentinian Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-4 to earn her 1/4 final meeting with the two-time (2003 and 2005) champion Justine Henin-Hardenne. This should be an explosive encounter, both players equipped with plenty offirepower and [I]shotmaking[/I] capacity off both wings. Groenefeld’s serve has been more consistent than Henin-Hardenne’s this season but the Begian’s forehand is the more deadly; powerful and clinically accurate when its owner is truly ‘on’. It was thedetermining factor in Henin-Hardenne’s 58 minute 6-16-2 semi-final rout of the world no.1 Amelie Mauresmo at Berlin in May. Henin-Hardenne unleashed a flood of forehand winners that day, and though her form has been both erratic and unpredictable throughout the season, Henin-Hardenne is still more than capable of producing an equally devastating performance. Groenefeld may find the answers with her technically-excellent backhand, one of most powerful,and penetrating strokes, on the Tour today. In many ways, Groenefeld resembles a young Venus Williams:very, very powerful - explosively so off the ground and on the serve, blessed with intimidating athleticism and hard-to-get-past wingspan. Henin-Hardenne may find many of her best shots coming back with interest in this encounter - but is mentally prepared for battle: “I’m going to be very careful because this [Groenefeld] is someone who’s made extraordinary progress over the last few months…she’s really a fighter. She goes for it. This is her first quarterfinal in a Grand Slam. Obviously, she’s going to be very motivated”.

With 1/4 finals now determined, some of best and most-fiercely contested matches so far of the seasonare likely to place under on the mesmerisingly beautiful red clay of Roland Garros’ main show courts. In an increasingly unpredictable women’s game, the winner is still far from certain.