World number one Roger Federer has admitted that he let a golden opportunity to complete his Grand Slam collection slip through his fingers.
The 24-year-old Swiss player came close to claiming the only trophy missing from his cabinet. Competing in his first final on the red clay of Roland Garros in Paris, the seven-time Grand Slam winner would have become just the third man to hold all four majors at the same time.
The Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion would have been the first to do so since Rod Laver in 1969.
But once again clay ace Rafael Nadal was standing in his way. The world number two has often proved to be a stumbling block for the world's top player over the last year. And once again he hammered home his dominance on clay with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory that extended his winning record on the surface to 60 matches.
Nadal is now 6-1 against Federer -- winning all four of their matches this year, including three times on clay, and all of those in finals. And Federer concedes he is no closer to mastering the Mallorcan, who also ousted him in the semi-final here last year.
"For me, it's harder to relate to him than maybe [Lleyton] Hewitt. He's a different kind of a player," explained Federer. "He never really goes out of total extremes, you know, where you have absolutely no chance.
"Where with me and maybe other players like [Marat] Safin, [Andy] Roddick, it's different. We can play a much higher level.
"He's tough to beat, not impossible to beat. That's the difference. You've got to be patient and wait for the right moment."
Federer blamed his own inconsistency for failing to build on early nerves from the defending champion. "I wasn't as consistent today like I was in Rome and maybe in Monaco," he said. "It's a pity I didn't play as well as in the last few matches but he makes it tough and he deserves to win.
"Maybe it was the heat. We both tried to cut down on the points in the first two sets so that we never really got a good rhythm going from the baseline.
"I had the feeling he was struggling and I'm disappointed not to have taken advantage of that."
But Federer insisted he was making progress in Paris by reaching the final this year after last year's semi-finals.
"It's obviously my goal to win this event," Federer said. "I got a step closer once again. I think every year that goes by gives me again more maturity on this surface.
"It's a matter also of if he [Nadal] can keep it up, if another clay court player comes along, how the draw looks.
"It was a good tournament after all for me. First time in the finals. You have got to also see the positive even though maybe at the end of my career I missed this moment in the French Open today."
Nadal paid tribute to the world number one. "I admire him. He's a very complete player. He's the best player I've seen in my life," said the 20-year-old Spaniard. "I can't say I am better than him because that's not true."
Nadal added: "It wasn't easy because Roger was playing today for his place in history and that's a lot of pressure.
"But it didn't happen, so I got to create this opportunity once again."
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