Maybe what Roger Federer needs in order to beat Rafael Nadal is a change of scenery.
Bring on the grass.
The lawn tennis season begins this week -- just the thing to put a little spring back in Federer's step. He'll start preparations for Wimbledon by playing in Halle, Germany this week after losing to Nadal in the French Open final on Sunday.
It was a wrenching loss for the top-ranked Federer, who was bidding for his fourth consecutive Grand Slam championship. Instead, Nadal won his second successive French Open title by beating Federer for the fifth time in a row, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Nadal extended his record clay-court winning streak to 60 matches in the Open era.
"He's tough to beat, but he's not impossible to beat," Federer said. "That's a big difference. Otherwise we wouldn't have to play. He can just lift the trophy on the first day."
The Spaniard is most vulnerable on grass, the surface he has played the least. Last year, after winning his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, he lost in the second round at Wimbledon.
"Sure, I want to play good on grass," Nadal said. "But I need to improve a little bit to enjoy it more."
When Wimbledon starts on June 26, Federer will be a heavy favorite to win the title for the fourth year in a row. Whether he can solve Nadal on clay is more problematic.
Federer is 0-4 this year against Nadal, with three of those matches on clay and one on hard court, and 44-0 against everyone else. The French Open remains the lone major event Federer has yet to win, and he has lost to Nadal at Roland Garros for the past two years.
"It didn't happen, so I've got to create this opportunity once again," Federer said.
By winning on Sunday, he would have joined Don Budge and Rod Laver as the only men to hold all four major titles at once, strengthening the argument that he'll be remembered as the greatest player ever.
"I was ready to put him at the top if he were to win this," seven-time Grand Slam winner John McEnroe said during a telecast. "But he's got some work to do."
Instead, Federer remains lumped with another group which includes McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras. None won Roland Garros. An ominous bit of history for Federer: Sampras' best showing at Roland Garros came in 1996, when he reached the semifinals at age 24. He never advanced beyond the third round again.
Federer is 24. He drew consolation from making the final for the first time.
"It's obviously my goal to win this event," Federer said. "I got a step closer once again from last year around. I think every year that goes by gives me again more maturity on this surface."
Nadal became the first player to beat Federer in a major final, and he did it with a classic clay-court performance -- scrambling, grinding and hanging in rallies until his oppon achieve the double.
Still only 20, Nadal hopes to contend for a title someday at Wimbledon, even if he's not up to it this year.
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