Nadal King of France

Membership comes through being able to win any Grand Slam except Roland Garros, and the world No 1 must contemplate whether he can ever leave the company of such modern greats as Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg.

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They are among those who triumphed everywhere except here and Federer's problem is that the man who beat him 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 yesterday could be around for a very long time.

Certainly long enough to overhaul Bjorn Borg's record of six French titles and probably long enough to shut out the 26-year-old Swiss while he is still in his prime.

As Federer tries to emulate Rod Laver among others in winning all four Majors, it will not help that he sees across the net someone with a left forearm which, like that of the great Aussie, resembles a side of beef.

Nadal has only just turned 21 and unless his body crumples under the physical stress of how he plays, he should establish the kind of dominance to outlast that which Federer enjoys at Wimbledon.

The Spaniard did at least lose a set yesterday but at times during this fortnight it has looked like the Eiffel Tower will topple over before he suffers a first defeat in this corner of the French capital.

Federer was determined to look on the bright side and needed to be creative, saying: "If I had won today I wouldn't have so many goals to chase in my career. This stays open to me and eventually, if I win it, the sweeter it is going to taste."

He admitted that it is always going to be difficult against Nadal. "He is a different type of player, he just wears you out or wears you down. With Rafa being a left-hander the whole thing kind of gets screwed up. You can't say whether you played good or bad because he's so awkward."

The bad news is that it is unlikely to get any easier. Nadal said: "I feel like I'm a better player than last year, more complete. I'm very happy. To win three Grand Slams is a dream, especially as I was not playing so well at the start of the year."

Nadal has shown that he can find a way to win when he needs to, because he was well short of perfection yesterday — just like his opponent.

This was not a final that delivered on its promise, strewn with errors and fashioned by the fact that Federer could not convert one of the 10 breakpoints he created in the first set.

There was anxiety in his game, doubtless contributed to by the occasion and the unique psychological challenge Nadal presents.

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Playing this one opponent on this one surface is the only time Federer walks on to a tennis court knowing he is really up against it.

It did not appear to have helped that he beat Nadal in the slower conditions of Hamburg three weeks previously.

Nor was he buoyed by the possibility that his rival might be tired after playing through four clay court tournaments in six weeks before this fortnight began.

There also appeared a lack of a clear purpose or strategy, with Federer always looking like he fancied creating more of a duel at the net without quite having the resolve to try to set the points up that way.

Now he is clutching at the annual consolation of knowing the tournament he loves most is just around the corner.

It might have been different if Federer had claimed one of those 10 break-points that got away.

The first four opportunities came at 2-1 when, with both players hammering at each other's backhand, he was rallied out of it.

The best chances came at 3-2, when he missed two relatively straightforward forehands — the shot proving infuriatingly unreliable throughout.

Subsequent disappointment contributed to him being broken immediately but before the set was lost, he threw in three more missed break opportunities.

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Summoning more adventure, Federer's visits to the net increased in the second and he finally managed to convert his 12th break-point with a forehand that hit the target. He just held on to it to level.

Thereafter Nadal's serve held out impressively against the game's best returner and he drove through to victory in two identikit closing sets.

Like so many others, Federer had been clubbed into submission and the eventual lack of drama was a fitting end to a dreadfully flat tournament all round.

Federer now heads to Halle in northern Germany while Nadal will today travel to London where he might be spotted practising at Queen's Club this evening if last year is anything to go by.

Should they meet again at Wimbledon, retribution might yet be swift but a 4-8 career record against Nadal tells of how this rivalry is weighing on the world's top player.