Nadal becomes king of clay

Rafael Nadal's first Grand Slam final will be remembered for the magnificent tiebreaker he lost, the set points he saved and the title he won.

In a match filled with spectacular exchanges at dramatic moments, Nadal beat an unseeded but unyielding Mariano Puerta 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 to win the French Open.

With Sunday's victory, the young king of clay earned a congratulatory handshake from the king of Spain.

"This is incredible," Nadal said. "It's a dream come true."

The fourth-seeded Nadal overcame three set points in the final set and became the youngest men's Grand Slam champion since Pete Sampras won the US Open at 19 in 1990. Nadal's the first man to win the French Open on his initial try since Mats Wilander, who claimed the first of his seven Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros in 1982.

For sheer entertainment, the final surprisingly surpassed Nadal's semifinal win on his 19th birthday against top-ranked Roger Federer.

The match inspired the best kind of clay-court creativity, keeping both players on the run as they chased drop shots, lobs and sharply angled groundstrokes. Some of the best rallies came in the tiebreaker, with each point seemingly more spectacular than the last.

Puerta, hampered by a sore thigh and weary from consecutive 3-hour five-setters in the previous two rounds, kept battling Nadal even after losing the second and third sets.

"He brought out the best in me," Puerta said. "I lost to an excellent player. He's the best player in the world."

The Argentine's efforts to force a fifth set won over the center-court crowd, who repeatedly chanted his name, and drew applause even from Nadal's coach and uncle, Toni Nadal.

"Mariano played better tennis than Rafa," Toni Nadal said. "But Rafa had the luck when he needed it."

Puerta was one point from winning the fourth set serving at 5-4, 40-15. But in another series of thrilling exchanges, Nadal rallied to break serve for 5-all. Two games later, after 3 hours, 24 minutes of tennis, he closed out the victory when Puerta pushed a forehand wide.

Nadal collapsed to the clay, flat on his back, then rose and embraced Puerta at the net. The young Spaniard then trotted to the other end of the court to shake hands with King Juan Carlos of Spain.

"I didn't think he was going to arrive this early in his career," said Wilander, who covered the match as a TV commentator. "But mentally he's just so tough."

With his 24th consecutive victory, Nadal surpassed Andre Agassi for the longest winning streak by a male teenager in the Open era. All of the victories have come on clay.

Nadal celebrated shots by flexing his Popeye-caliber biceps, and with leaps, uppercuts, and other muscular moves worthy of Olympic judo champion David Douillet of France, seated in the second row.

But while the charismatic teen delighted fans, so did the journeyman Puerta. He won one point with a flying forehand volley, a la Boris Becker, and another when he faked a drop shot to send Nadal into a skid, then hit a deep forehand winner instead.

It was the first all-lefty men's final at Roland Garros since 1946, and Nadal become the first left-handed men's champion since Thomas Muster in 1995. He's the youngest French Open men's winner since Michael Chang, the champ in 1989 at age 17.

On a cool, gray afternoon, Nadal broke in the opening game and led 3-1 when Puerta called for a trainer in the middle of the next game.