Federer triumphs

After coming in second three times to Spain's Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer finally claimed his first ever French Open title.

“It's nice to stand on the podium as a winner for a change” said Federer.

The Swiss tennis champion overpowered the Swede from the start, breaking him twice in the first ten minutes of the match. Another break closed the deal, 6-1 for the Swiss after just 23 minutes.

The second set, however, was a tighter affair, with both players holding their serve until the tie-breaker. But Federer is the master of tiebreaks, and he confidently raced away with a 2-0 set lead.

When Federer started the third set with another break, all hope was gone for Söderling.

Federer won the match with a service winner and sank to his knees in tears after two hours of dream tennis. Söderling managed to keep up at times, but the outcome was clear since the beginning of the match.

The final score was 6-1, 7-6, 6-4.

At the post-match ceremony, it was Andre Agassi who handed over the trophy to Federer. Ten years ago, Agassi completed his own career Grand Slam after winning the French Open.

Federer has now officially become the sixth man to win all four majors at least once.

He also ties the record of Pete Sampras, who also won 14 career Grand Slams.

Now the Swiss Maestro will try to extend the record by winning Wimbledon next month.

dm/av/Reuters/dpa
Editor: Andreas Illmer