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French Open Men's Final: Fed has own personal Mount Everest to scale

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Greatest player of his generation will probably never lift title at Roland Garros and that's a great shame, says Sky Sports tennis commentator Barry Milns

Everest is the world's highest mountain, but the second highest, K2, is widely regarded as the hardest to climb. For five-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer, Roland Garros with Rafael Nadal around is its equivalent.

Cards on the table - I would really like to see Federer [3.95] beat Nadal [1.33] in the French Open final. Nothing against Rafa, who is a colossus on clay, but having watched Federer win all the other grand slams many times over with so much sublime artistry and skill, it would be his ultimate achievement and put the seal on an incredible career.

To me Federer deserves to join that elite group of five men who won all four major titles in their careers. But if the soon to be 27-year-old Swiss is to follow in the footsteps of Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi, Sunday's final against his great Spanish rival may be his last opportunity to do so.

It will be the 17th time these two icons of the modern game go head-to-head. But while Federer has won five of their seven matches to date on other surfaces, Nadal's 8-1 winning ratio against him on clay speaks volumes, not least inside Federer's head.

The first time they squared up to each other on the dirt was in the French Open semi-finals of 2005. Nadal took it in four sets as he did in their next encounter the following year in Monte Carlo, before winning their epic showdown in Rome three weeks later when he saved two match points in the fifth set prior to winning it on a tiebreak.

Federer's response was to play a storming first set in the 2006 French Open final, only for Rafa to overcome him in four. While it was Federer's world-beating forehand which ultimately let him down at the Foro Italico, it was his backhand that went wayward at Roland Garros and ever since then, aside from that one clay court win over Rafa last year in Hamburg, Federer's inability to sustain his brilliant best throughout each encounter between them on the surface has proved crucial.

Remember last month how Federer led 5-1 in the first set of their Hamburg final but still lost in straight sets, just as he did back in April in Monte Carlo after leading 4-0 in the second set? Each time Nadal's incredible mental strength and resilience, not to mention his outstanding counterpunching skills, proved the greater and if you compare their performances so far this fortnight the Spanish master has made much lighter work of his opposition.

As Nadal admitted the way he beat world No.3 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals was almost perfect. "It was my best match at Roland Garros," Nadal said. "I was very dominant on the court. I could throw the ball anywhere I wanted. I was dominating both on my forehand and backhand, and I didn't have to think that I could make mistakes. That was key."

If Nadal repeats such form in the final then what chance Federer taking three sets off him in Sunday's showpiece having never managed to win two in it before? It is no surprise that Nadal is poised to equal Bjorn Borg's record of four successive French Open titles - he has all the weapons required to do so - and Federer will have to be fearlessly aggressive and more accurate than ever to prevent that happening.

"It's no joke, I really feel strongly that this is my year to win here," Federer insisted.

"Rafa hasn't had any problems whatsoever to reach the final, but it's important to test yourself over and over again and if I'm going to win the French, what better way to do it than beat Rafa in the final. I look at this as an enjoyable prospect."

Good on him for being so positive but, cards on the table again, I will be amazed (and delighted) if Federer wins.