PARIS -- There was a ruthless inevitability to this coronation.

	Despite winning the French Open Juan Carlos Ferrero's place in the ATP entry system won't move from No. 3.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the world's best clay-court player, won the French Open on Sunday on the ultimate dirt-red stage that is Roland Garros. The Spaniard carved up a Dutch club player named Martin Verkerk 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.

Finally, the man who would be king was crowned.

"I'm feeling so happy," Ferrero said later. "Is very special to win the tournament that you want to win. Right now, I'm feeling great, but maybe tomorrow I will feel more exciting."

Exciting?

The French Open final hasn't been visited by such a blowout since 1978, when Bjorn Borg, the six-time champion, gave Guillermo Vilas only five games. Ferrero lost only three sets on the way to his first Grand Slam singles championship.

It was a slow, stately ascension.

In the three previous French Opens, Ferrero lost to the eventual champion: In 2000, he fell to Gustavo Kuerten in a five-set semifinal. The next year, he fell to Kuerten again, in a three-set semifinal. In 2002, he lost to countryman Albert Costa in a four-set final.

Clearly, the fourth time was, well, charming. Ferrero, 23, will become the No. 1-ranked player in the ATP Champions Race on Monday. He still trails Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi for the overall world ranking.

	“	Nothing to be unlucky about. My strokes were not good enough. The length was not good enough. My volleys was not good enough. I mean, what was actually good? Maybe I play not so good because he let me play not better than this.I can say now, 'OK, I had no chance.' ”
		— Martin Verkerk

"Still number three?" Ferrero said, frowning. "What's that (expletive), huh?

"I believe always that I can win Roland Garros. If not last year, maybe this year, maybe the next."

A year ago, hamstrung by injuries (sprained ankle, shoulder, thigh), Ferrero lost too easily to Costa. Healthy again, he was flawless and fluid against Verkerk. His timing and balance and exquisite judgment were juxtaposed against the strange (yet wonderful) awkwardness of Verkerk, the rubbery result of Eraserhead meets Gumby.

Verkerk had never won a Grand Slam singles match, but somehow the 24-year-old Dutchman found a way to win six of them here. Ranked No. 46 in the world, Verkerk saved five match points in the process, dispatching former champion and No. 4 seed Carlos Moya and No. 7 seed Guillermo Coria in the process.

Verkerk would have been the longest of long shots had he prevailed over Ferrero. Can you say Buster Douglas? Kurt Warner? The Minnesota Twins?

In the end, Verkerk was returned to earth.

"He was playing all the time aggressive," Verkerk explained. "So I was always walking behind the fact, you know. I was running around. I tried to make the first shot, but it was so heavy, how he played.

"Nothing to be unlucky about. My strokes were not good enough. The length was not good enough. My volleys was not good enough. I mean, what was actually good? Maybe I play not so good because he let me play not better than this.

	Clay-sation
	How dominant was Juan Carlos Ferrero on clay this year? Here's a look at the other top players on clay this season.
	Juan Carlos Ferrero	28-2
	Gaston Gaudio	28-10
	Carlos Moya	27-7
	Agustin Calleri	24-9
	Guillero Coria	23-5

"I can say now, 'OK, I had no chance.'"

Given Verkerk's hulking 6-foot-5 stature and his considerable wingspan, Ferrero's ability to break through on his serve was seen as critical heading into the match. The very first game framed that drama nicely -- and presciently, too.

How confident was Ferrero? He actually won the toss before the match -- and elected to receive Verkerk's thunderbolts.

There were four deuces, two aces, two double-faults and Verkerk saved no fewer than four break points before Ferrero won the 10-minute battle of wills. A tentative backhand from Verkerk gave Ferrero the game and, as time passed, the set.

The Spaniard, taking that dangerous serve some 10 to 12 feet behind the baseline, broke Verkerk three times in four tries. The breezy conditions, Verkerk said, put even more pressure on his serve.

"On clay, I will never be as quick as Ferrero, I will never be the player Ferrero is. He was returning balls like on the lines and on my feet all the time. Before I moved after my serve, the ball was on my feet.

"I have to rely on my serve. Today it was not good enough. And then a lot of my games fall apart."

And that was essentially the match; it was over in a relatively swift two hours and eight minutes. Verkerk did break Ferrero in the third game of the second set. A male streaker -- shades of Wimbledon 1996 -- wearing only a loincloth of tennis balls and a casino advertisement -- burst on Court Philippe Chatrier and, in an impressive display of athleticism, actually cleared the net before he was surrounded by security.

That was what had to pass for drama on this day.

	Martin Verkerk's serve failed him in the final of the French Open but it still wasn't a bad tournament for him.

Verkerk made only 47 percent of first serves and that's not nearly enough against an artist who has won 28 of 30 clay-court matches this year. Verkerk faced a staggering 26 break points (admirably saving 15), while Ferrero offered only five.

On Tuesday, Verkerk will be wearing the colors of Hilverheide, a club team competing for the Dutch championship. He signed up a year ago when he was not so high in the rankings. If Hilverheide reaches the Sunday final, he'll travel to Rosmalen, Holland, for his first-ever match on grass on Monday.

"It is not the best preparation you can have," Verkerk said, "but I still have my serve."

He also has $491,400, the U.S. equivalent of the 420,000 Euros he earned for placing second -- or $59,580 more than he had earned in his entire career.

"I'm unbelievably happy," Verkerk said. "It's the first day I can be happy about it because the tournament is over. To be in the final of a Grand Slam, there are no words for that. I mean, I'm still dreaming. And I think I will dream for a little longer."

Sometimes, dreams come true.

On the 20th anniversary of his incandescent triumph here, Frenchman Yannick Noah presented Ferrero with the sterling cup. Ferrero came here first as a 12-year-old and, yes, he dreamed of winning.

"Before the match, I was thinking that I have to try to give my best, mentally, physically, tennistically," Ferrero said. "So I think I went to the court so concentrated since the beginning of the match. Mentally, I was perfect.

"I think it was the perfect final for me."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.