Roland Garros Re-Lived 2005: Rafael Nadal – The Dominance Begins
The Tennis Podcast
David Law
4.5 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 4 June 2020
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer first met in a Grand Slam in the semi-finals of the 2005 French Open when the tone for their rivalry on clay, and Nadal’s dominance at Roland Garros, was set. Nadal won in four sets and then won the title two days later against Mariano Puerta.
In what way did Federer have the tennis world transfixed during this period? Did that cause people to underestimate Nadal in their matches? And what were the keys to victory for Nadal?
Mary Carillo explains what made the Nadal-Federer match-up so one-sided in the early days and reveals how she felt covering their many duels in Paris.
Finally, after Christopher Clarey puts Nadal’s record of 12 French Open titles into context, we reflect on his extraordinary achievements at Roland Garros.
The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners each December.
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* ROLAND GARROS RE-LIVED *
We are producing daily shows throughout the original Roland Garros dates, looking back on 15 classic matches and stories from the tournament’s history. Tomorrow’s focus will be Robin Soderling’s run in 2009, including his historic victory over Rafael Nadal (Set 1, Set 2, Set 3, Highlights) and his final versus Roger Federer (highlights). We will also be doing editions for Wimbledon.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Mary and Bartoli. |
| 0:02.0 | I'm Matt Vylander. |
| 0:03.0 | This is Mary Carillo. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm Stan Ravinka. |
| 0:05.0 | I'm Lighten Jutt. |
| 0:06.0 | I'm Andy Murray. |
| 0:07.0 | This is Janik Noah. |
| 0:08.0 | And you're listening to the tennis podcast. |
| 0:21.0 | So the rivalry between Raffa Nadal and Roger Federer |
| 0:24.0 | started in 2005 at Grand Slam level. |
| 0:27.0 | That's where we're going back to for the next edition of Roland Garros Relived. |
| 0:31.0 | Catherine, where were you in the world in 2005? |
| 0:35.0 | I had just finished my second year of university. |
| 0:39.0 | Presumably that would have been sort of during my exams of second year of uni. |
| 0:45.0 | So on the cusp of my year abroad, it wasn't a hugely memorable year. |
| 0:51.0 | I have to say, I don't remember watching that much live. |
| 0:56.0 | So let's go with I was busy being very, very studious and revising for my exams. |
| 1:04.0 | Although I've got no recollection of that particularly either. |
| 1:07.0 | But I'm not sure that I watched that live at the time. |
| 1:13.0 | Second year of uni, that's when exams start to count though, isn't it? |
| 1:18.0 | Is it? |
| 1:20.0 | Firstly, they just don't matter. |
... |
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