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Video: Rafa Remembers First French Open Crown


A decade of clay-court dominance has earned Rafael Nadal the title of King Of Clay.

As the nine-time Roland Garros prepares to launch his title defense, he looks back on how it all began with his first French Open championship.

Video: Federer Says Nadal is Still Roland Garros Favorite

The then 19-year-old Nadal defeated Argentine Mariano Puerta to claim the 2005 Roland Garros title in his Paris debut.

"I was very young, I had tremendous energy, the impulse of youth," Nadal says in the newly-released Roland Garros video above. "I was capable of returning tough shots, of winning important points and returning those shots with strength and power. I played with true passion."

The first final was one of Nadal's most dramatic French Open matches.

Serving for the fourth set at 5-4, Puerta was poised to force a fifth, but Nadal battled back, staving off three set points in the 10th game. The No. 4 seed won three straight games to capture his first career Grand Slam, scoring a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Puerta in a phenomenal French Open final.

"It all happened so quickly," Nadal recalls. "I went from being No. 50 in the world to competing in the final of Roland Garros in two months. I handled it well, with serenity."

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