Julian Finney - Getty Images

2 months ago: PARIS - JUNE 06: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates with the trophy after winning the men's singles final match between Rafael Nadal of Spain and Robin Soderling of Sweden on day fifteen of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 6, 2010 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

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Rafael Nadal crashed to the dirt in joy as he had so many times before, adding the another exclamation point onto his clay court resume with a dominant 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Robin Soderling to win his fifth French Open title and seventh grand slam overall.

Next to perhaps his 2008 Wimbledon title, this achievement has to be one of the most meaningful in Nadal's career.  He seemed far more overwhelmed with winning this title than he had on any of his previous four wins.  And why shouldn't he be? He beat not only his nemesis Soderling, but also the chorus of doubters that had cropped up over the last year, as his career was declared just about over by most every one of tennis' "experts."

Those naysayers had plenty of valid reason to doubt reasons to doubt Nadal.  His inefficient, grinding game seemed paralyzed by recurring knee injuries.  Those injuries robbed him of a chance to defend his Wimbledon title, and cut short his title defense in Melbourne earlier this year.

But his 2010 clay court season was an absolute revelation.  He played efficient, powerful tennis, never falling into the pure backboard style he sometimes reverted to in his youth.  He embarrassed the field at Monte Carlo, then backed that up with consecutive wins in Rome and Madrid to become the first player ever to sweep the clay Masters events, setting a new record for most career Masters titles at eighteen in the process.

His steamrolling continued into Roland Garros, where he never dropped a set and never faced so much as a set point.  He played only three tiebreakers during the entire tournament, two of which were against Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals.  Nadal's clay court game looks more complete than it ever has, and more durable than it ever has.  Which is the last thing his colleagues needed.

This magnificent clay court run puts Nadal back in the #1 spot of the ATP Rankings for the second time in his career.  What makes this feat even more impressive is that he reclaims it without even having points from Wimbledon to his name, since he missed it last year.  With Federer defending champion's points and Nadal defending none, his grasp on the top spot can only grow over the next month or so.

Nadal is still young, and if he can stay healthy, still in his prime.  Federer is a once in a lifetime type player, and I don't see any way Nadal threatens his records.  But if he finds his way around the fast hard courts of New York the way he previously learned his way around grass so effectively, there's no reason he can't at least get a career slam and a double digit slam count before he hangs up his racquet.