A victory over Nadal also would give him four consecutive Slam titles.

A victory over Nadal also would give him four consecutive Slam titles.
PARIS (AP) -- Rod Laver will settle down in front of a TV today to watch Roger Federer play Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.
Laver has a keen interest in the outcome: In 1969, he won a true Grand Slam, capturing the men's singles titles at all four major tennis tournaments.
No one's done it since.
Federer won't be bidding to match that accomplishment, exactly, because a victory over Nadal would give the Swiss star four consecutive Slam titles stretched over two seasons. A self-styled "Roger Slam."
Still, Federer would join Laver (who also did it in 1962) and Don Budge (1938) as the only men to win four majors in a row.
"I'm very well aware of all those things. I think four in a row is basically as good as in one year," Federer said before the tournament began. "You can see it as you like."
If No. 1 Federer can beat No. 2 Nadal in the first French Open final between the two top-seeded men since 1984, it also would allow him to become only the sixth man with a career Grand Slam.
And he's only 24.
So, the question becomes, where would such an achievement place Federer in the pantheon of tennis greats?
Laver's view
"I would think you'd wait until he was 30 until you'd start indicating that he was the greatest player that ever lived. But he's certainly showing signs of it, isn't he? With what he's done, his record, the way he plays," Laver said by telephone from his home in Carlsbad, Calif.
"It's quite incredible. He's a great, great player."
Federer won seven of the past 11 Grand Slam tournaments: three at Wimbledon, two each at the U.S. Open and Australian Open, going 7-0 in finals.
What's missing from his resume is a championship at Roland Garros.
Federer spoke last month about wanting to win the French Open at some point because he's heard the criticisms leveled at Pete Sampras for failing to add the red-clay Grand Slam to his record 14 major titles. Indeed, Sampras never reached the final in Paris.
Other greats who didn't win the French Open include John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg.
Great game on grass
Like Sampras, Federer's game translates brilliantly on grass. Unlike Sampras, Federer brings enough variety to the court that he can excel on clay, too.
"He's worked hard, he's got [1966 French Open champion] Tony Roche as a coach, who understands clay and can put an imprint of just how active a player has to be on clay and how steady you have to be," Laver said. "Sometimes you have to be aggressive, and other times you have to slow up, and let the other person make a mistake."
Nadal, who turned 20 last week, quickly has established himself as a genius on the slow surface. He's trying to become the youngest player to win a second consecutive French Open since Bjorn Borg did it at 19 in 1975.
The left-hander has won a record 59 consecutive matches on clay, including victories over Federer in the semifinals of the French Open in 2005, and in the finals of Masters Series events at Monte Carlo and Rome this year.
Overall, Nadal is 5-1 against Federer over their careers. In 2006, Federer is 0-3 against the Spaniard, 44-0 against everyone else.
How does Nadal do it?
"A left-hander maybe is sort of difficult for someone like Federer to play against," said Laver, a lefty himself. "Maybe his best shots go into Nadal's best game, and Nadal's best shots goes into Federer's weaker portions."
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