What if Roger beat Nadal at the French Open ...

Here's an interesting perspective of the Federer-Nadal rivalry given by Greg Garber at ESPN which only magnifies Federer's achievements in the world of tennis. And I don't think the same can be said of Nadal.

Almost single-handedly, Nadal has prevented Federer from making a complete mockery of the men's game.

Consider this: Going into this final at Roland Garros, Federer had put together two of the three longest Grand Slam match win streaks in the 39-year existence of the Open era. After losing to Nadal in the semifinals here in 2005, Federer won 27 straight matches -- and the next three Grand Slams (Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open). And then it happened again. After losing to Nadal in the 2006 French Open final, Federer won another 27 consecutive Grand Slam matches -- and three more Grand Slam singles titles.

Remove Nadal from the equation, and you have a rather frightening prospect. It is not a great stretch to imagine Federer beating Mariano Puerta in the 2005 final and, clearly, he was the second-best player here in 2006 and again in 2007. For laughs, give Federer Nadal's three French Open titles and you have a ridiculous run of nine consecutive Grand Slam titles -- 63 consecutive major match wins -- with the valid prospect of two more, 2007 Wimbledon and the 2007 U.S. Open.