Tearful Federer triumphs in Paris
Roger Federer could win the most grand slams in the men's game with victory at Wimbledon next month
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Sunday, 07, Jun 2009 08:59
Roger Federer has won his first French Open crown after beating Robin Soderling in straight sets.
The world number two equals Pete Sampras' haul of 14 grand slams after winning 6-1 7-6 6-4.
Federer becomes only the sixth man to win all four grand slams in his career - equalling the achievements of Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Andre Agassi.
After the painful defeats to Rafael Nadal in the last three finals in Paris, Federer was determined not to slip up to the man who defeated the Spaniard last week.
The 27-year-old made an explosive start and raced into a 4-0 lead.
He broke in the opening game after capitalising on the Swede's forehand errors, before repeating the trick in game three with a forehand that the underdog mistakenly thought was going out.
Soderling eventually held onto a service game, but Federer underlined his dominance by breaking again with a scintillating backhand cross-court pass to clinch the set.
In contrast, the second set was a more competitive affair. Both players held onto their serve to force the tie-break.
But the one-way traffic resumed with Federer firing four aces and a sublime drop shot to clinch the set.
A dejected Soderling failed to recover from losing the tie-break so heavily, and was broken in the opening game of the third set.
The Swiss star saved a break point in game four, and eventually served for the championship.
Federer saved another break point, before firing an ace to clinch victory and cement his place as the greatest player of all time.