Rafael Nadal defeats Roger Federer for his sixth French Open title

Reporting from Paris

One man came seeking history, the other redemption. Both got what they wanted Sunday, though only one took home the trophy after a stirring match that will go down as one of the finest finals at Roland Garros in recent memory.

Rafael Nadal, the world’s No. 1 tennis player, won his sixth French Open, a feat of clay that puts him on par with Swedish great Bjorn Borg. The Spaniard was at his muscular best, powering to a 10th Grand Slam title in four tough sets against his biggest rival, Swiss maestro Roger Federer, the only active men’s player with more majors to his name.

It was the matchup everyone craved but few predicted would happen, a record eighth time the same two men have faced off on the last day of a Grand Slam event. After failing to make it to the four previous major finals — a terrible drought by his lofty standards — Federer had been all but written off by commentators convinced of his rapid decline.

But the world No. 3’s spirited battle against defending champion Nadal, over 3 hours 40 minutes, was a reminder that, at 29, the Swiss can still produce tennis of a quality younger men would kill for.

In the end, Nadal prevailed, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1, on the back of his unparalleled topspin, his court speed and defensive skills so good they would be better classified as offense. His ability to retrieve tough shots on the high-bouncing clay continually asked one more question of Federer, who didn’t always have a reply.

“I was able to play my best when I needed my best,” said Nadal, 25. “For that reason, today I am here with the trophy.”

The Spaniard has now won at Roland Garros every year since 2005 except one, that being 2009, when a shocking fourth-round defeat allowed Federer to slip in and snatch the one Grand Slam crown that had eluded him. Only Chris Evert, on the women’s side, owns more French Open titles, with seven.

Although Nadal will be the favorite to repeat his title at Wimbledon, which begins June 20, Federer showed Sunday that he remains in the hunt.

“It was just important to get to another Grand Slam final, keep on playing well,” Federer said. “That’s obviously the huge priority right now, to win Wimbledon in a few weeks’ time.”

Coming into the French Open, the buzz had been all about Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, who had elbowed past Federer as the world No. 2 with his perfect record in 2011 and who had beaten Nadal in two clay-court warmup tournaments. Had Djokovic made the final in Paris, he would have toppled Nadal as No. 1.

But Federer, cast in the unfamiliar role of underdog, swept aside the Serb in a thrilling semifinal, setting up a revival of the rivalry that has dominated men’s tennis and captivated fans for the better part of a decade.

The pairing pits Spanish fire against Swiss ice, a player whose brute force often masks his artistry against one whose artistry often masks his brute force. It’s a clash of styles, some say, between a man who is probably the greatest clay-court player in history against the man who may go down as the greatest ever in history.

“He’s happy to be Rafa; I’m happy to be Roger,” Federer said. “That’s why we like to play each other.”

On Sunday, the Swiss was determined not just to redeem himself in the eyes of critics but also to wipe out the humiliating memory of the last time he and Nadal played for the championship here, in 2008. Back then, Nadal demolished him so thoroughly on the red dirt that he managed to win only four games.

Federer equaled that number after 22 minutes on court Sunday, which even included a break of Nadal’s serve. Striking the ball with assurance, Federer applied pressure on Nadal by serving hard, hitting deep and occasionally rushing the net to keep his opponent off-balance.

He even had a set point as Nadal served at 2-5. But the crowd groaned when Federer’s backhand drop shot landed just wide.

Momentum can shift in the blink of an eye in tennis, and at that point it swung toward the Spaniard, who took advantage of a sudden tentativeness from Federer to rattle off the next seven games, bagging the first set as well as a service break to start the second. Like a predatory animal, Nadal feasts on his competitors’ fear, his confidence and conviction rising in inverse proportion to theirs.

But Federer, as befits a man playing in his 23rd Grand Slam final — far and away the record — launched a recovery late in the second set. A rain delay helped him regroup and break Nadal, eventually sending the set into a tiebreaker.

Although he lost that, the Swiss was reenergized in the third set. Both men went about giving the full-throated crowd a geometry lesson, carving out sharply angled groundstrokes that drew appreciative gasps and sometimes standing ovations.

When Federer raised his game to recover a break of serve and break again to put himself in position to take the third set, even Nadal knew something special was afoot.

“When Roger plays like this, the opponent has nothing to do sometimes,” he said.

But it was not to last. Despite earning triple break point on Nadal’s serve in the opening game of the fourth set, Federer failed to convert any of them, and it was the reigning king who reestablished the Philippe Chatrier Court as his dominion, using his racket as a blunt instrument to boss and bully the valiant pretender.

At 5-1, tournament officials worked their magic in the stands, the shining Coupe des Mousquetaires suddenly appearing in place for the winner to claim, while Nadal worked his magic on court. He charged to triple match point on his serve, with two beautifully struck forehands, and when a Federer shot then went long, Nadal sank to his knees.

His triumph, Federer’s resurgence and Djokovic’s rise will make this year’s Wimbledon more intriguing than usual — a “trivalry,” as one tennis commentator calls it.

But on Sunday, Nadal wasn’t looking ahead.

“If we talk about the Grand Slams … this is my biggest chance of the year,” he said. “If I win this tournament, I know my year is fantastic.”

He’ll always have Paris, no matter what happens.

henry.chu@latimes.com