Paris – Rafael Nadal’s phone rang last week. On the other end was Guillermo Vilas, owner of four Grand Slam titles and the man whose 1977 record for consecutive victories on clay Nadal was approaching.
“I’m angry. You’re showing a lack of respect for your elders,” Vilas told the Spanish teen, tongue squarely in cheek. “If I see you, I don’t know what I’m going to do to you.”
Caught off-guard and uncertain whether Vilas was pulling his leg, Nadal stammered for a moment before catching on. Turns out, they saw each other Monday on center court at the French Open, and Vilas greeted him with a hug.
Nadal broke Vilas’ mark with his 54th consecutive victory on clay, beating Robin Soderling 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 at Roland Garros to begin defense of his first Grand Slam title.
“It’s a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches,” Nadal said. “Getting the record here adds something extra.”
On-court trophy ceremonies usually are reserved for the closing weekend of a major tennis tournament. Yet after finishing off Soderling, Nadal was presented with a rectangular glass box containing the multiple layers of a clay court, and highlights from his French Open championship were shown on the video screens overhead.
A tad over the top? Perhaps. But everyone seemed to agree this is an impressive achievement.
“It may be similar to a Joe DiMaggio streak, where it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to get broken,” said eighth-seeded James Blake, who could face Nadal in the quarterfinals. “To win 53 matches in a row, you can’t be a little bit better than the rest of the field. You have to be so far above and beyond.”
Vilas, for his part, wasn’t all that disappointed to see his record eclipsed. After all, until Nadal began getting close, the Argentine had no idea he even owned the mark.
“They never gave me any trophy or anything at the time,” Vilas said, smiling.
Nadal improved to 8-0 at Roland Garros – he won the title in his debut – and he hasn’t lost on clay since April 8, 2005, against Igor Andreev in Valencia, Spain. There were moments of shakiness against Soderling, particularly when Nadal got broken while serving for the second set at 5-4.
But Nadal reeled off six games to regain control, chasing down ball after ball to the corners.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you think you’ve put the ball away,” Blake said, “it seems like he gets it back one more time.”
Blake, who beat Nadal on a hard court in Indian Wells, Calif., in March, eliminated Paradorn Schrichaphan 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (3) and now faces Nicolas Almagro, 19-6 on clay this year. Blake is 3-4 on the surface in 2006 and never has been past the second round at the French Open. Because clay is considered something of an equalizer, dulling hard strokes and creating longer rallies than on grass or hard courts, Roland Garros often turns out surprising results.
There was little stunning about Monday’s happenings, though, with seeded players going 25-3, including wins for Nadal’s two immediate predecessors as French Open champion: 2003’s Juan Carlos Ferrero and 2004’s Gaston Gaudio. No. 16 Jarkko Nieminen quit because of stomach cramps, and the highest-ranked woman to exit was No. 18 Elena Likhovtseva, a 2005 semifinalist. She lost 6-1, 6-1 to Karolina Sprem.
French Open/at a glance
A brief look at the French Open on Monday in Paris:
Attendance: 35,120. Last year: 36,285.
Men’s seeded winners: No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 8 James Blake, No. 10 Gaston Gaudio, No. 11 Radek Stepanek, No. 12 Mario Ancic, No. 13 Nicolas Kiefer, No. 20 Tomas Berdych, No. 21 Sebastien Grosjean, No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 26 Jose Acasuso, No. 31 Dmitry Tursunov, No. 32 Nicolas Massu.
Men’s seeded losers: No. 16 Jarkko Nieminen (retired with stomach cramps).
Women’s seeded winners: No. 2 Kim Clijsters, No. 6 Elena Dementieva, No. 7 Patty Schnyder, No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 9 Francesca Schiavone, No. 11 Venus Williams, No. 16 Nicole Vaidisova, No. 17 Flavia Pennetta, No. 21 Nathalie Dechy, No. 24 Katarina Srebotnik, No. 27 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 29 Sofia Arvidsson.
Women’s seeded losers: No. 18 Elena Likhovtseva, No. 28 Lucie Safarova.
On court today: Defending women’s champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, Martina Hingis, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt.
Stat of the day: 54. Nadal’s consecutive wins on clay, a record in the Open era.
Quote of the day: “If I had to lose that record, I’m pleased I was losing it to somebody like that.” – Guillermo Vilas, who won 53 consecutive matches on clay in 1977
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS