Remember Paris, 2008: Gilbert On Nadal's Dominance

Final, d. Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0

Rafael Nadal had long established himself as the favourite at Roland Garros, but no one could’ve anticipated how decisively he would win the title on his fourth go-around.

Brad Gilbert, who guided Andre Agassi to six Grand Slam titles including the 1999 Roland Garros triumph, had seen a number of great Grand Slam runs during his years as player and coach - and even he was awed by the Spaniard’s performance that year.

“The most amazing thing obviously is the guy comes in, three-time champion, and that was probably from start to finish his most dominant performance,” he says. “It just kind of had that feeling they’re just watching it from afar, that nobody had a shot the way he was playing at the moment.”

Nadal brushed aside his first five opponents - Thomaz Bellucci, Nicolas Devilder, Jarkko Nieminen, Fernando Verdasco and Nicolas Almagro - conceding a total of 25 games. His 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win over Almagro, in fact, was the most one-sided Roland Garros quarter-final in the Open Era.

“I think he had guys so intimidated that they were 0-3 down walking out of the tunnel,” comments Gilbert. “Besides obviously his game itself, he just doesn’t give you anything. He makes you earn every single point. It’s a rare combination of unbelievable offense and defence.”

Novak Djokovic had the best chance to take a set off of Nadal, extending the Spaniard to a tie-break in the third set of their semi-final match, but the defending champion built a 6-0 lead in the tie-break to quickly extinguish the Serbian’s hopes.

“He was playing unbelievable,” says Gilbert, who was in Paris for the semi-final match. “You got the feeling that even if Djokovic won that third, even if he had enough in the tank to go another set - obviously he’s a completely different player now - that he couldn’t win two more sets. I remember watching those matches; you were thinking it’d be an upset if someone wins a set, forget about someone winning three sets.” 

The final, which featured World No. 1 Roger Federer versus World No. 2 Rafael Nadal for a third straight year, produced the most stunning result of all: a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 rout of the Swiss. It would be Federer’s most lopsided loss in Grand Slam action.

Gilbert, who had been courtside when Agassi beat Federer with the loss of just seven games at the 2001 US Open, was floored as he watched the match from a hotel room in London. “I was like, this can’t be happening. Obviously the guy’s a great, great clay court player and he had him rattled and confused. My jaw was wide open at what I was seeing.

“Rafa was pretty darn near invincible. Federer was maybe pressing a little bit, sensing the level Rafa was at. It was one of those things, like sometimes in a basketball game or a football game, three or four turnovers and it got away from him quickly. It wasn’t lack of effort or anything like that. Rafa was on his game, Federer was a little off, and he just was all over him that day.”

Nadal became the fifth player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set, joining Ken Rosewall (1971 Australian Open), Ilie Nastase (1973 Roland Garros), Bjorn Borg (1978, 1980 Roland Garros; 1976 Wimbledon) and Federer (2007 Australian Open).

“They were just busting through the draw like butter,” says Gilbert. “The guy was the overwhelming favourite and he went out and did it. That’s what makes it even more impressive. You know how hard it is to repeat a major, and Nadal, he did it three times. Then to do it on his fourth and the most impressive the way he did it? That speaks volumes to how great the guy is.

“You didn’t think it was possible for anyone to be better than Borg on clay. Well, he probably is. Nadal and Borg, they’re like Picasso.”

REMEMBER PARIS
2005: Chang On The First Triumph
2006: Kuerten On Being Defending Champion
2007: Moya On Playing Nadal
2008: Gilbert On A Dominant Performance
2010: Wilander On A Momentous Win
2011: Agassi On Nadal's Clay Form

2012 Tribute: Roland Garros Is Rafa's House