Roger Federer needs to win a sixth successive Wimbledon title to convince the tennis world that his French Open humiliation by Rafael Nadal has not seriously undermined his position in the game.

The sheer magnitude of Nadal's 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 destruction of the world No1 - Federer's worst Grand Slam loss - sent a shockwave through tennis and gave the 22-year-old Spaniard a fourth successive title on the Roland Garros clay. It could provide Nadal with the confidence to believe he really can defeat Federer on the famous Wimbledon lawns.

Nadal, who has lost to Federer in the past two Wimbledon finals, is taking nothing for granted despite his French Open victory. At the end of the match he did not celebrate with his usual fall to the court, believing he had to show respect to Federer because of the enormity of the result.

"I think I played almost a perfect match," he said. "Roger made more mistakes than usual but he is too good for that to be a very important loss for him. The numbers say I am the best player in the world on clay but I am not saying I am getting close to Roger on grass."

The Spanish star will now head for Queen's to get in some matches on grass. "It's going to be very important for my preparation for Wimbledon," he said.

Nadal is unbeaten in 28 matches in Paris and appears to be getting even better, which only reinforces the view that Federer may never win this Slam title; the only one missing from his collection of 12. It was a fate that befell Pete Sampras and is used against the American in any debate about the game's greatest players.

Bjorn Borg, who also won four successive French titles, handed the trophy over to Nadal and spoke for many on the eve of the final when he said: "If Roger wins Paris, no doubt he's the greatest player who ever played the game." Federer went into his third successive final against Nadal talking a very good game despite the fact he was not playing with either the fluency or control that was needed to beat the best player on clay.

However, he said: "I feel I have the right tactics, I have the right game, and I have the fitness to beat him. I believe very strongly that this is my year."

Given that kind of unbending belief, Federer now finds himself in a very dark place when it comes to clay-court tennis. Patently, even when he convinces himself that Nadal is there for the taking, he ends up with a the kind of thrashing that would scar lesser players for the rest of their careers.

To turn up in a Grand Slam final and win only four games is almost unthinkable. The only mitigating factors for the world No1 is that on every other surface he is the best in the game and, with 12 Slam titles to his name, even a defeat like this will not crush his confidence.

Federer said: "I still believe I can win this title, even though this was a tough loss. When Rafa's on the attack, he's lethal and during this match I knew there was nothing I could do to win.

"I haven't lost on grass for five year or six years and I still definitely feel very strong about my chances. I don't think this has a big effect on me mentally."

Federer was today on his way to Halle in Germany for his usual Wimbledon preparations, with the eyes of the sport focused on his every move.