Rafael Nadal celebrated his fifth French Open title on Sunday and admitted he feared his career could have been over when a series of personal and professional setbacks engulfed him.

Four-time champion Rafael Nadal stormed into his fifth French Open final on Friday to set up a mouth-watering revenge showdown with Robin Soderling, who sent him crashing to a first Paris defeat last year.

Defending champion and world number one Roger Federer was knocked out of the French Open on Tuesday suffering a staggering 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 quarter-final defeat to Sweden’s Robin Soderling.

Former champion Ana Ivanovic and super-senior Kimiko Date Krumm saw their French Open hopes fizzle out in the Roland Garros gloom on Thursday as heavy rain brought havoc to the second-round programme.

Defending champion Roger Federer defied two rain breaks to reach the French Open third round on Wednesday as last year’s runner-up Robin Soderling took just 71 super-charged minutes to book his place.
Federer, chasing a 17th Grand Slam title, overcame a sloppy first set, where he was plagued by 21 unforced errors and had to save five break points, before defeating Colombian left-hander Alejandro Falla 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-4.
The world number one will tackle either Belgium’s Olivier Rochus or German qualifier Julian Reister, the world 165, for a place in the last 16.
Federer went into his match buoyed by having already defeated world number 70 Falla twice without dropping a set, including in the second round of Roland Garros in 2006.
But he struggled throughout the opening set before getting the better of the Colombian, shrugging off the distractions of two rain interruptions.
“A player like Falla needed the first set to have a chance of winning,” said Federer, on a day when bursts of heavy rain brought to an end three days when temperatures had soared to a sweltering 30 degrees.
“He

Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer began his campaign for a 17th Grand Slam title with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over Australia’s Peter Luczak in the French Open first round on Monday.

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova reeled off 11 of the last 12 games to move into the French Open second round with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea on Sunday. But 10th seeded Belarusian Victoria

Rafael Nadal claimed the first victory of the French Open on Friday after defending champion Roger Federer was handed a tricky draw while Serena Williams was on collision course with long-time rival Justine Henin.