BJORN Borg believes Rafael Nadal could finally end Roger Federer's dominance at Wimbledon this year.
The Swede, who won 11 majors during his outstanding career, has an interest in the outcome of the tournament which gets under way later this month as his record of having won five consecutive titles at the All England Club from 1976-80 will be overta
ken by Federer, if the Swiss can win his sixth title in a row at SW19.
Granted, Borg's prediction that Sunday's French Open final would be a tight affair proved to be some way wide of the mark as Nadal, the world No2, dropped only four games in destroying No1 Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. However, given his achievements in the game, Borg's words still carry weight, and after watching the one-sided match at Roland Garros from a front-row seat, he said of Nadal: "If he survives the first couple of rounds this year, I pick him to win Wimbledon."
Over Federer? "Yes," Borg said.
After losing the most lopsided grand slam men's final since John McEnroe allowed Jimmy Connors to take only four games at Wimbledon in 1984, Federer spoke on Sunday about wishing he could face Nadal on grass more often.
There are far more tournaments played on clay than on grass, and there's a strong possibility the rivals will meet on the slicker surface once in 2008, just as they met once at the All England Club in 2006 and 2007 – in the Wimbledon final. Perhaps Federer would be advised to hope that somebody else eliminates the 22-year-old Spaniard before they get the chance to meet in the London showpiece, as, surprisingly, Nadal has come much closer to beating Federer at Wimbledon than Federer has come to beating Nadal at the French Open. Never at Roland Garros has Federer genuinely threatened to prevent Nadal becoming the first man since Borg in 1978-81 to win four consecutive French Open titles. In 2005, they met in the semi-finals. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, they met in the final. In each of the first three matches, Federer pushed Nadal to four sets. But the 26-year-old Swiss didn't even come close to making a single set competitive on Sunday.
At Wimbledon, in contrast, the two great rivals played four sets in the 2006 championship match, followed by a 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2 "thriller," as Federer described it, in the 2007 final. Federer is supposedly the more adaptable of the two, yet it's Nadal who has changed the way he plays even more significantly of late. "I am young. I have to continue to improve," Nadal said. "I think I'm improving, and that's important. I have to continue improving if I want to be No 1, No 2, No 3, because a lot of good players are there."
Nadal might also find himself feeling fresher than Federer heading into the quick turnaround between the French Open and Wimbledon.
Generally, with its longer points and tough footwork, the clay-court Grand Slam is thought to be the most grueling of the bunch. Yet Nadal hardly appeared to be sapped of any energy at the end of the tournament, perhaps because he spent so little time on court. He is the first man to earn the trophy at Roland Garros without dropping a set since Borg did it in 1980.
It will be interesting to note how Federer moves forward after his worst loss in 173 career Grand Slam matches, and his first 6-0 set anywhere since 1999, back before he had cracked the top 50 in the rankings. He insists, however, that his confidence will not be dented by the manner in which he lost Sunday's final. "I'm going to look forward to grass," he said. "The second half of the season, hopefully, is going to be better than the first."
Nadal was asked whether the way things went during the French Open made him feel like the best player in the world at the moment. "No, no, no," Nadal said. "I feel like No 2, because I am. I am No 2, and closer to the No 3 than the No 1."
That last part is true. Had Nadal lost to third-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, those two men would have swapped spots in the rankings. Nadal beat Djokovic almost as easily as he dispatched Federer. Nadal's next challenge is to win a Grand Slam title outwith the confines of Paris.
Borg, for one, thinks it could happen sooner rather than later.
"The way he played last year (at Wimbledon), it was an unbelievable final. He was very unfortunate not to win that particular match. He had chances," Borg said. "And I'm sure after losing a match like that he wants to come back and try to win that championship."
