Federer's relationship with Roland Garros has a bit of a duality. On the one hand it was this tournament that Federer completed his career Grand Slam, and tied the all time Grand Slam record. On the other hand he had to really suffer and experience disappointment for years to win it.

From 2005-2008 Roger Federer was the undisputed and best clay court player around. He won everything in sight and was almost invincible against any player, on any surface. The one only important title he could not win was the French Open. For four long years he had crushed everyone he played at that tournament, and for four years he faced the same road block over and over again. Rafael Nadal, Federer's greatest rival and arguably the greatest clay court player of all time always stood in his way.

For two consecutive years he was denied the holy grail of tennis, completing the Grand Slam. This involves winning all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year. Only one man, Rod Laver, has ever done it.

In 2008 not only was Federer denied the French title once again, but he was beaten down worse than he had ever been. He only won 4 games, and was even bageled in a set (which means losing a set without winning a game, humiliating for a professional player). It was the worst loss of his career, in front of one of tennis's biggest stages. That year he also loss his number one ranking and it really looked like the French Open would forever evade Federer, not to mention the chance of ever breaking Pete Sampras's Grand Slam record.

The first half of 2009 was by no means a redemption year for Federer. He had again loss to Nadal at the Australian Open in 5 sets, and even shed tears after the loss. He didn't win a title for the first half of the year. Then coming into the French he won a big final against Rafael Nadal on clay in front of Nadal's home crowd in Madrid. Despite the win everyone was still pessimistic of his chances of even reaching the finals at the French Open.

He started the tournament in uninspiring fashion, losing sets to opponents he ordinarily would trounce. Then a shocker came in the fourth round. Rafael Nadal, the man who was undefeated at Roland Garros for 4 consecutive years, the man with the longest surface winning streak in tennis at 81, the man who had denied Federer the French for 4 long years, was eliminated from the tournament by the Swede Robin Soderling. Also the man many were picking to also make the final, Serbian Novak Djokovic, was also eliminated earlier in the week

Suddenly, hope and opportunity jumped right into Federer's lap. Out of nowhere he became the huge favorite to win the one title that would almost universally make him the GOAT (greatest of all time) in tennis. Pressure however weighed heavy on Federer. The very next match he played against German Tommy Haas he went two sets down, and almost a break down in the 3rd. However after pulling off clutch inside out forehand, one that he had been missing all day long, saved the break point. He proceeded to win the match in 5 sets.

The next big trial came against Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinals. Del Potro had never won even a set off of Federer in 5 previous encounters. However he came out playing like a man with nothing to lose and proceeded to get 2 sets to 1 up. Again Federer showed his resolve, his fight, and his courage by not giving up and winning the match in a close five setter.

Poetically, Federer's final opponent was the man who vanquished Federer's tormentor, Robin Soderling. This time however there were no nerves, except for a few points near the end, and the match was over in 3 straight sets. The French crowd, notorious for rooting for the underdog cheered Federer all the way until the last point. Even with the one sided encounter the crowd wanted it over quickly. They wanted Federer to hoist the trophy as much as they would one of their own. The win tied the great Pete Sampras for Grand Slam titles, but also sealed Federer status as a living legend at just 28 years of age and removed the one thing missing from his resume of GOAT.