PARIS — By the fourth game, Rafael Nadal had Roger Federer kicking the clay in frustration. By the second set, the normally stoic Federer was screaming at himself.

The drubbing went on from there. Nadal won his fourth consecutive French Open title in a rout Sunday, again spoiling Federer's bid to complete a career Grand Slam.

Dominating the world's No. 1 player with astounding ease, Nadal swept six consecutive games early in the match and swept the final nine games to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.

It was Federer's worst loss in his 173 Grand Slam matches, and the shortest Roland Garros men's final in terms of games since 1977.

So thorough was the thumping that during the trophy ceremony, Nadal was moved to apologize.

"Roger, I'm sorry for the final," Nadal said.

For the No. 2-ranked Nadal, it was merely another in a series of dominating victories. He lost only 41 games in seven rounds.

"I've hoped I could have done better today than four games," Federer said. "But Rafael was very strong this year."

The Spaniard became the second man to win four consecutive French Open titles. Bjorn Borg did it in 1978-81.

"Winning four times in a row is incredible," Nadal said.

He improved to 28-0 at Roland Garros, where he has won 83 of 90 sets. Only six-time champion Borg won more French Open men's titles.

And Nadal became the first man since Borg in 1980 to win the tournament without dropping set.

"He dominated the tournament like never before, like Bjorn," Federer said.

Borg watched the final from the front row. Much of the crowd rooted for Federer, who arrived in Paris for the fourth consecutive year seeking to become the sixth man to win all four major titles. Each time he has lost to Nadal — in the semifinals in 2005, and in the final each of the past three years.

Fans chanted "Ro-ger! Ro-ger!" between games, but Nadal earned their cheers, too. He won 24 of 27 points to take a 2-0 lead in the second set as a desperate Federer tried everything to reverse the tide.

But when Federer played serve-and-volley on a second serve, Nadal lunged to hit a lob into the corner for a winner. When Federer tried to chip and charge off a return, Nadal passed him with a backhand.

And when Federer settled for playing from the baseline, he had little chance. It's tough to hit shots where the relentless Nadal can't reach them, and Federer probably tried too hard, with uncharacteristic errors flying from his racket.

Federer did gain a toehold in the second set when he won consecutive games for the only time for 2-all. But he lost serve at 3-4 — hitting a deep volley that Nadal deftly ripped for a winner — and the match quickly slipped away from there.

For Federer, the worst came at the end — a 6-0 set loss. The last time that happened to him was on a slightly smaller stage: the first round in 1999 at Queen's against Byron Black.

On match point, Federer sailed a forehand long, and Nadal raised his arms in triumph.

"Losing in the final is never fun," Federer said. "I'll try again next year. Rafael was once again the strongest."

Nadal improved to 9-1 against Federer on clay, with the only loss coming in the 2007 Hamburg final.

Other statistics that underscore Nadal's dominance on the surface: He's 22-1 in clay-court finals, and 41-0 in best-of-five matches on clay.

Federer fell to 12-3 in major finals, with all of the losses to Nadal. They've met six times in Grand Slam events, and Nadal leads 4-2.

Federer's far from alone in his French Open frustration. The list of Grand Slam champions who never won the Roland Garros title includes Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg.