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PHOTOS: Rafa defies protestor, dogged Ferrer to triumph

A bare-chested protestor who jumped on to court with a red flare and the dogged resistance of fellow Spaniard David Ferrer could not stop an irrepressible Rafa Nadal from storming to a record eighth French Open title with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win on Sunday.

- Nadal beats Ferrer to claim 8th French Open crown

- Protestor with a flare interrupts French Open final 

The claycourt king was left startled in the sixth game of the second set when a man wearing a white mask leapt over from the stands and ran towards Nadal as he lit the flare.

The protestor ran around waving the flare before he, and another bare-chested accomplice, were bundled away by security staff.

It was the second such interruption within the space of a few minutes as a man and a woman were also led away from high up in a different section of the stands after shouting protests and waving a banner declaring 'Help! France tramples on children's rights'.

'I never dreamed about this kind of thing'

At Roland Garros, though, Nadal revels on trampling on his opponents and as he became the first man to win the same major eight times, his record at the spiritual home of claycourt tennis stood at a jaw-dropping 59-1.

"I never dreamed about this kind of thing (winning eight titles)," third seed Nadal, who returned to the tour in February after seven months out with a knee injury, said before being handed the Musketeers' Cup by Olympics 100 metres champion Usain Bolt.

Ferrer had to settle for receiving the loudest round of applause from the 15,000 fans and a runners-up cheque for 750,000 euros.

"These two weeks I played very good tennis but I would like to say that he deserves everything, he's the best," Ferrer told the crowd.

Ferrer engaged Nadal in lengthy rallies

The ugly incidents in the second set momentarily overshadowed Nadal's relentless charge towards the title on a unseasonably cold day in Paris with the temperature stuck at 16 degrees Celsius.

The grey, dank and chilly atmosphere that greeted the players on Philippe Chatrier Court was certainly not to Nadal's liking but he soon warmed to the task of grinding down an opponent whom he had trounced in their last 16 claycourt clashes.

A wild forehand from Ferrer handed Nadal the first break of the match for a 2-1 lead but the fourth seed hit back immediately by employing some astute baseline tactics.

A brilliant backhand down the line winner after he had lured Nadal into the net with a drop shot brought up break point. He then engaged the champion into a lengthy rally which Nadal ended by ramming a backhand into the net to relinquish his serve.

Nadal raced to a 3-1 lead in the second set

But the man who has the number 7 stamped on the heel of his shoes to symbolise his seven Roland Garros triumphs went a break up again in the seventh game.

Nadal outwitted the 31-year-old Ferrer with a backhand passing shot winner to go 4-3 ahead but was in danger of surrendering the advantage in the next game when a misjudged lob floated long to hand his rival break point.

A blistering forehand winner took care of that problem and Ferrer meekly surrendered his next service game by slicing a backhand into the net to lose his first set at this year's tournament.

Perhaps inspired by the presence of the fastest man on earth, Bolt, who followed proceedings behind a pair of dark glasses despite not a ray of sun in sight, Nadal hurtled into a 3-1 lead in the second.

Ferrer raised his game in patches

Ferrer stepped up his effort to break the Nadal serve in an astonishing fifth game, which lasted 10 minutes and featured four deuces, four break points and an incredible 29-shot rally which Nadal polished off with a whipped backhand winner.

For all Ferrer's effort, he could not stop Nadal moving 4-1 ahead and as the fourth seed's "e-he" grunting got louder, Nadal's winners started flying faster.

But just when Nadal looked that he would soon be rolling in the clay in celebration, the protesters took over and for the second time in four years raised security fears at the Open.

On Sunday though, nothing could stop Nadal from collapsing on to his back in triumph after he put a full stop to the match with yet another screaming forehand winner.