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Reuters

Reuters

Queen Sofia of Spain poses for a photograph with Spain's Rafael Nadal after he won in the men's final match in the French Open tennis championship at the Roland Garros stadium, on June 6, 2010, in Paris.


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A few of you may remember me commenting that when Roger Federer got back his Wimbledon crown last year and the No. 1 ranking, it was as though nothing had ever changed.

Just shy of a year later, the tour is almost back to where it was before Rafael Nadal had to sit out with injury: the Spaniard sits atop the rankings and holds the Roland Garros trophy.

Robin Söderling, unwittingly I suppose, played the third side of this tennis triangle. Buoyed by a crowd that wanted so desperately to see Federer win their title and complete the career Slam, he hit a struggling Nadal off the court last year, ultimately made it to the final, and gave the fans what they wanted. This year, he hit an in-form Federer off the court in the quarterfinals, denying him the chance to remain No.1 and break Pete Sampras' record, and then fell to an in-form Nadal in the final. If someone had told him three years ago he would play such an important role in the fate of the top two players in the world, he'd probably have shrugged it off as stupidity.

You can make this stuff up.

Rafa is back. I hadn't seem him weep like that in his chair after a tennis match since he lost that grueling Wimbledon final in 2007 because his knees failed him. He won every big title there was to win on clay this season, a first even for the Ruler of the Red Stuff. Sure, his camp is now saying the focus is on the US Open, but no one will convince me Nadal won't move heaven and earth to win back a title he was unable to defend last year on the lawns of London.