Immutable law No. 1: No matter what else has happened in tennis, one thing has not changed. The Nadal forehand to Federer backhand is, all things being equal, a battle that Federer cannot win with any consistency.

It isn't just the evidence that was presented to our eyes again today; it's also the evidence presented indirectly by Djokovic during his brilliant streak, and those two wins over Nadal (and, let's not forget, he was 3-0 against Federer before Friday).

Federer's backhand can't consistently hurt Nadal; not on clay. Federer had almost twice as many unforced errors as Nadal (56 to 27), and the majority of them poured off the backhand face of his racket. At times I had to ask myself if Federer was wondering, What would Novak do?

Video   Highlights: Nadal beats Federer in French final June 5, 2011: Check out some of the key points from Rafael Nadal's sixth French Open title win, a four-set victory over Roger Federer.

Immutable law No. 2: It's difficult to sustain the degree of excellence required to beat Nadal when you're playing him at Roland Garros. This brings us right back to the play-by-play details. While many nice things were said about this match, and will continue to be said, the harsh realities aren't quite as kind. Once Federer surrendered that 5-2 first set lead, he never really led until he managed to pull out the third set. His tennis was admittedly brilliant, but who's going to come back to beat Nadal on clay from two sets down?

Granted, the second set had many tense moments. After falling behind by love-40 and gifting Nadal with a break in the very first game, Federer soon hit the first of the two stretches of outstanding tennis he would produce. It looked as if he blasted his way back into the match because he'd more or less succumbed to frustration and decided, What the hail, I may as well let it rip. It's presumptuous to read someone's mind that way, but perhaps it wasn't mere coincidence that one moment Federer was shrugging and shaking his head, speaking horrible body language, and the next he was firing winners left and right. No matter, Nadal weathered the storm and was much better prepared to compete in the tiebreaker. He won it going away, 7-3.

Video   Tough tournament but Nadal prevails June 5, 2011: While Rafael Nadal wasn't happy with the way he was playing early in the 2011 French Open, he was thrilled ultimately to capture his sixth championship at Roland Garros with a final win over Roger Federer.

Fedrerer went deep into the well of gorgeous again in the third set, which Nadal led by 4-2—two games from a straight-sets triumph. Credit Federer with lifting his game to a wonderful new level, a level that would have opened the gates to a win on this day against anyone but Nadal—or even him, if Federer could only sustain it. But he couldn't do it on this second occasion, either. Although he extended the match by winning the third set 7-5, Nadal soon found a higher gear that Federer couldn't match. Nadal dug himself a hole in the opening game of the fourth set, sinking to love-40, but he resisted falling into it, saving the game. In the very next game, Federer dug a comparable hole and dropped into it for good when he made a forehand approach error off Nadal's service return. It was never close after that. "That was a big turning point," Nadal said later. "In my opinion Roger played a good match."

He added, "Today I think he did well. He was a little bit unlucky at the first set, and after that, he came back fantastically well in the second. In the third I had 4-2, but seriously, I think he played very, very good from that moment to the beginning of the fourth. So when Roger plays like this, the opponent has nothing to do sometimes. I just waited my moment, tried to be there all the time, tried to put him in not easy situations all the time."

Video   French Open men's trophy presentation June 5, 2011: Former champion Jim Courier presented Rafael Nadal with the champion's trophy and Roger Federer with the runner-up hardware at Roland Garros.

Roger described the clay-court dynamic between them slightly differently, in words that I imagine he might want to take back if they were read back to him: "Obviously I'm the one that's playing with smaller margins, so obviously I'm always going to go through a bit more up and downs; whereas Rafa is content doing the one thing for the entire time. So it's always me who's going to dictate play and decide how the outcome is going to be. If I play well, I will most likely win in the score or beat him; if I'm not playing so well, that's when he wins."

We know that's sour grapes, but we also know it can't be that easy for a player of Federer's caliber to go out to accept what has by now been established as the inevitable, one-sided beating at Roland Garros. What's the man to do, quit playing the tournament entirely as long as Nadal is active?

And somehow, this match was reflective of the champion's entire experience in Paris; it was marked by soaring highs and gutteral lows. It was alternately brilliant and stinky, ragged at the edges and holey in the middle. But it was still a very satisfying win for Nadal, and he equalled the record of the only other man in the conversation about the greatest clay-court player in tennis history, Borg. He was conspuciously absent today, much like he was that day at Roland Garros in 1982 when unseeded Mats Wilander became, after Borg, the second Swede in the Open era to win a major title.

Video   Good but disappointing French Open run for Federer June 5, 2011: Ted Robinson, John McEnroe and Mary Carillo think Roger Federer looked strong and moved well but say his strongest French Open performance against Rafael Nadal also is his most frustrating.

Cherishing the moment, Nadal reflected: "Sometimes when you fight a lot to win, when you try your best in every moment to change the situation, it makes the title more special. For example, in 2008 I think I played better than ever, but I finished the tournament and, you know, I didn't feel that I won Roland Garros because I won in three sets. Not that difficult fourth round, quarterfinals, semifinals, with not many tough moments. Playing fantastic tennis, (and) every tournament is very special. But when you come back after not easy situation, that makes the tournaments and the victories more special for sure."

A few times today, Roger Federer looked like he might have been the one who would ultimately say those words. He caught lightning in a bottle at Roland Garros this year, but at the end taking down  Nadal was just too much to ask. It always has been at Roland Garros, there's no point trying to tap dance around it, not even if you're Federer. One point before the anti-climactic end of this match, the sun finally broke through, the court began to glow, and you could almost think anything was still possible.

Almost.

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