For one fleeting moment, Federer appeared to have a chance to make things interesting. After breaking Nadal for the only time, and later holding serve without facing a break point for the only time, Federer pulled even in the second set at 3-3. The match was an hour old, and finally the tiniest hint of drama broke through the gray clouds.

In the next game, Nadal — gasp! — frittered away two forehands, allowing Federer to get within one point of a 4-3 lead. Nadal, however, brought it back to deuce, ending an 18-stroke point with a drop shot that Federer reached but slapped into the net.

Federer lost the following two points by missing forehands. And that, essentially, was that. The man who stands two Grand Slam titles shy of Pete Sampras’ record would not win another game, losing the last nine.

“I don’t know whether he didn’t have a good feel for his shots or if he was over-thinking,” said Nadal’s coach and uncle, Toni. “What I see is that he’s missing a bit of self-confidence. He never looked comfortable. Maybe it’s a mental block.”

Could be.

“To beat Rafa on this type of surface, you need to play your best tennis,” said Borg, who watched from a front-row seat. “But Roger’s going to be back. And so will Rafa.”

Borg, who thinks Nadal could break his mark of six French Open titles, was among the tournament’s past champions who stood on court Sunday during a prematch ceremony marking the stadium’s 80th anniversary: Guillermo Vilas, Gustavo Kuerten, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Mary Pierce and others also were there.

Among the uninvited, seeing as how they never won a singles title at Roland Garros: Sampras, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker.

His outward optimism aside, Federer could be forgiven if, deep down, he wonders whether he ever will be asked to participate in such festivities, whether he ever will get past Nadal at the French Open. Glum as he was after the match, Federer already was thinking about 2009.

“I mean, after a loss like this, you don’t want to play Rafa again tomorrow, that’s for sure,” the 26-year-old Federer said.

And yet, seconds later, he added: “Let’s see what happens again next year.”

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