Nadal turns six shooter in Paris

Rafael Nadal won his sixth French Open title, equalling Björn Borg's record, with a thrilling victory over Roger Federer in Paris on Sunday.

The Spaniard triumphed in four sets -7-5 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 6-1- to take his 10th Grand Slam title and, for now at least, keep his world number one spot out of the hands of Novak Djokovic.

It was Federer who started the better of the two, showing the same scintillating form that helped him end Djokovic's run of 43 straight victories in Friday's semifinals. The Swiss broke Nadal on his first service game and soon found himself playing a set point at 5-3 up. But his drop shot went wide, Nadal continued with a cross-court backhand winner and began a comeback that saw him move ahead 6-5 and then take the first set with a whipped forehand.

The reigning champion broke again at the start of the second, but the world number three fought back to level at 4-4, only to see Nadal regain the advantage in the next game. With the Mallorcan serving for the set at 5-4, 40-40, rain forced a 10-minute suspension and when play resumed Federer won the game to level at 5-5. But it was Nadal who took the ensuing tiebreak.

With the Spaniard steaming away in the third it looked to be all over until Federer dramatically broke twice, take the set and begin a comeback that continued into the fourth as the Swiss found himself 0-40 up against the Nadal serve.

Digging deep, though, Nadal fought back to take the game and accelerate away, earning a double break and clearing the path to another sporting milestone for this remarkable 25-year-old.

It wasn't the showdown against Djokovic, who has already beaten the Spaniard four times in four finals this year, that people had been perhaps expecting- that will surely come another day. But, after a stuttering start to the tournament, Nadal was thankful to be able to extend his record of wins at Roland Garros to 45 out of 46. "I can only give thanks to life because I am very fortunate," he said.

It was Nadal's sixth win over the Federer in eight meetings in Grand Slam finals, four of them at Roland Garros. "It's a very special, outstanding tournament for me. It's one of my wildest dreams come true."