Relentless Nadal Is a Real Marathon Man in Rome

Did his tailor make Rafael’s pants too short, or his shorts too long?

While that’s being debated, “El Nino” -- Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal -- is giving his opponents the shorts, and stretching his winning streak long enough to make him the favorite in the French Open. But that’s three weeks away, and the 18-year-old left-hander in the distinctive pedal-pusher trousers had a few things to do on his first visit to the Rome Masters. Six things, actually, all of them victories. The last, Sunday -- the 17th straight spanning a stretch of 27 days and three titles -- was a thriller over Argentine Guillermo Coria, a rebound from 0-3 in the fifth set, to a record-length victory, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6), in 5 hours 14 minutes amid cries of “RA-FAEL, RA-FAEL.”

“At 0-3 in the fifth, my energy is finish,” Nadal said. “It is thanks to the public, their support I knew I could won. “

Not only did the swift sharp-shooting Coria -- widely considered the game’s best clay-court player -- play the new champion virtually dead even. He rejuvenated himself from losing the last game of the third (21 minutes, 11 deuces) on a seventh set point, and advanced to 3-0 in the fifth with two serving points for 4-0.

Nadal then fought back, racing to 4-3 before Coria caught him at 6-6, dodging a match point with a mighty forehand, forcing the decisive tiebreaker.

Coria, sagging to 2-5 in the tiebreaker, fought to 4-6, double-championship point. He erased one with a zinging forehand, and looked skyward as Nadal double-faulted. “Nerves,” said Nadal in English, then in Spanish.

Coria sighed, “To come so close ... two points ... we both fought

Nadal maneuvered to provoke a lob, and smashed it away. His own lob recovery gave Coria a chance to do the same. But Coria swatted it right back to Nadal, whose two forehand passing bids worked. Coria volleyed the first, not sharply enough, and knocked the second one long.

Not since another Argentine Guillermo -- the burly Vilas -- lost to New Yorker Vitas Gerulaitis, 6-7, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, in 4:53 in 1979 had Rome seen such a final. Since Nadal’s boyhood idol and island neighbor, Carlos Moya, beat David Nalbandian for the title a year ago, the score here is Mallorca 2, Argentina 0. And Nadal is peering toward Paris, caring not a whit whether his pants are too short or his shorts too long.