King Ferrero rules

The third-seeded Spaniard, a losing finalist last year and a semi-finalist in 2000 and 2001, imposed his claycourt skills to defeat the unheralded Verkerk in two hours and four minutes.

Ferrero, 23, is the sixth Spaniard to win the men's title at Roland Garros and the fourth in the past decade.

"It was 12 years ago when I first came to Roland Garros and I always dreamed of winning here, I don't know what to say," the 23-year-old said.

"These two weeks were the most special in my life, I was hoping to win and now it's in the bag. I'd like to congratulate Martin, I hope he will keep improving."

Twelve months ago Ferrero was denied victory here when, as overwhelming favourite in the final, his nerves failed him against compatriot Albert Costa.

But one year on, Ferrero never looked in any doubt that he would finally make his grand slam breakthrough in front of Spain's former Olympic president Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Verkerk, 24, was the first player to reach the final on his French Open debut since Swede Mikael Pernfors in 1986 but he failed to come up with the goods on the slow surface in a one-sided final.

However, he had not won a grand slam match before stepping on to the ochre-hued Parisian clay, and simply lost his way on centre court.

Overwhelmed as he was in the title match, his heroics this past fortnight have lifted him from world number 46 to a ranking of 15. The 420,000 Euros ($495,200) he picks up for reaching the final also doubles his career earnings to date.

Verkerk gave the match a strong start forcing Ferrero to fight hard. The Spaniard needed five break points to take Verkerk's serve in a ten-minute first game. Despite two huge aces, that reached the 200klm/hr mark, the Dutchman's serve was too inconsistent to help him out of trouble.

"I was behind all the time, he played unbelievable. He deserved to win," a shell-shocked Verkerk said."I never expected to stand here. Now I am here and all I can really say is I am happy for him that he won because he is a great champion. I don't want to get too emotional so I won't say too many words."

Ferrero continued his charge and thanks to some great serving he once again imposed his baseline expertise to outpace Verkerk who kept struggling on his first serve. El mosquito took advantage of every chance to put pressure on the Dutchman's weak forehand to break a second time go 4-1 up.

Ferrero kept the upper hand and bemused Verkerk with a brilliant drop shot while continuing to hammer him with groundstrokes taking a 5-1 lead. A breathless Verkerk who continued to make countless unforced errors on his forehand and outwitted at the net conceded his serve again to lose the set 6-1 in 35 minutes.

Ferrero's confidence was untouchable as he eased through the second set's first game on an ace. But Verkerk replied with three aces and a service winner to win the next game to love and level at 1-1. The Dutchman suddenly seemed to relax, picking his shots more freely breaking Ferrero for the first time just before a streaker made his appearance on centre court to take a 2-1 lead.

However Verkerk's game was still far too inconsistent to halt Ferrero's charge. Ferrero forced Verkerk into long rallies in which he took the upper hand breaking back immediately for a 2-2. Verkerk tried to change tactics and come to the net more but it only gave Ferrero a chance to make more winners.

Ferrero continued to overwhelm Verkerk with stunning returns breaking once more to go up 5-3, Ferrero did not lose his momentum despite a controversial line call. A drop shot and a wide backhand from Verkerk gave the Spaniard the second set 6-3 in 71 minutes.

In the decider, strong winds began to affect the course of the set, changing ball trajectories. A rock solid Ferrero paid no attention to the wind and quickly rushed to a 3-1 lead as Verkerk amassed unforced errors, Verkerk had made 50 unforced errors, twice as many as Ferrero.

The Dutchman tried hard to raise his level of play in a long, hard-fought fifth game where he managed to hold serve. Ferrero wobbled a bit giving two chances of break but he quickly recovered to go up 4-2.

Ferrero was eager to wrap up the match and get the trophy ceremony on its way. He changed gears making Verkerk crack gifting him with a love game and a chance to serve for the title. El Mosquito honoured his nickname by flying through his service game and wrap it up in two hours and four minutes to claim his first French Open.