Rafael Nadal was crowned the undisputed king of clay yesterday, beating unseeded Argentine Mariano Puerta 6-7 6-3 6-1 7-5 in a rousing French Open final.
The 19-year-old Spaniard recovered from losing a lung-busting opening set, rattled through the next two and then held off a brave Puerta fightback to claim his first grand slam title. In doing so he also became the first debutant since Swede Mats Wilander in 1982 to win the men's singles at Roland Garros.
Puerta played inspired tennis and looked capable of emulating Gaston Gaudio's triumph 12 months ago. But Nadal would not be denied.
Soaking up everything Puerta could muster, he eventually ground the gallant Argentine into the dust, saving three set points in a gripping fourth set before Puerta sent a forehand wide on his first match point after three hours 24 minutes.
Nadal has been virtually unbeatable on clay this year, collecting five titles and racking up 23 successive victories on the surface going into the final. He started as the overwhelming favourite against a player who this time last year was still serving a nine-month ban for doping.
All the talk had been of Nadal claiming his rightful place in the history books.
The first professional era men's final at Roland Garros featuring two left-handers had threatened to fizzle out after the 26-year-old Argentine made a torrid start.
Nadal roared into a 3-1 lead against his nervous-looking opponent. Things looked bleak for Puerta when he needed treatment on a thigh injury, a legacy of 15 hours he had spent on court reaching the final.
A capacity centre court crowd feared an early finish as Puerta continued with a heavy strapping in place, but the gritty Argentine had other ideas.
Mixing clever angles with subtle drop shots, he took the fight to his opponent and the set on tiebreak after 72 minutes of drama.
That effort appeared to have taken its toll on Puerta in the second set. A weary-looking backhand drifted over the baseline to hand Nadal a break for 3-1 and this time there was no coming back.
The tenacious Nadal served out the set comfortably, producing a trademark fist pump to send a battle-scarred Puerta back to his seat with the match level at one set apiece.
As the skies darkened over Roland Garros the momentum swung completely in Nadal's favour as Puerta's resistance began to crumble.
Nothing the Argentine tried worked and Nadal broke for a 4-1 lead and then repeated the trick two games later to put himself in sight of his first grand slam title.
However Puerta found a new lease of life in the fourth set as he applied the brakes on Nadal's victory charge.
At 3-3 he had Nadal down 0-40 on serve but the Spaniard dug himself out of trouble, holding serve with a dipping crosscourt backhand.
Hitting the ball with ferocious power and venturing boldly to the net Puerta engineered another break opportunity at 4-4 and this time he jabbed away a backhand volley to give himself the chance to take the match into a decider.
The drama reached new levels in the next game as Nadal saved three set points. He then seized on a poor attempted drop volley from Puerta as he broke back to level the set at 5-5.
Two games later Nadal edged to match point and Puerta finally succumbed, shovelling a forehand wide after three hours 24 minutes as Nadal collapsed joyfully on to the court.
Women's doubles: Ruano Pascual/Suarez bt Black/Huber 4-6 6-3 6-3.