A Repost From Yahoo! Southeast Asia

REVEALED: What sugar actually does to your brain and body

about a week ago. 14

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Sugar is a sweet, funny thing. For some of us, it’s a love-hate affair that borders around obsession, caution and indulgence. To others, it’s merely just glucose and/or fructose; have too much of it and you get diabetes. Regardless of which group you belong to, you probably can’t avoid having sugar in your diet, so it’s always a good idea to understand better what you eating. Perhaps after reading this entry, you’ll find that sugar isn’t as bad as you had imagined – or possibly much worse than you believe.

Firstly, we should understand that sugar is a very broad term describing different forms of saccharides, of which glucose and fructose are of most direct concern to us. Glucose is what you should consider the natural “fuel” of your body, and that most bodily processes, such as thinking about an exam question or doing push-ups, require glucose in one way or another. Despite so, glucose has its own problems, namely leading to the release of VLDL which in higher amounts, could be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. And then there is the all-too familiar diabetes of course.

Fructose on the other hand, is really just very bad. The body doesn’t require fructose for energy consumption, but will actively do so when its freely flowing in your bloodstream after a fructose-heavy meal. The main difference between this and glucose is that fructose affects your metabolism in more than one negative way, encompassing the release of more VLDL in addition to uric acid production and a whole bunch of other nasty stuff. Bottom is clear: glucose can be bad, whereas fructose can very bad when both are taken in copious amounts.

How does knowledge of fructose, glucose and the scientific stuff affect us? A majority of processed food rely on fructose to get you that tasty flavour, which means that you take in a lot of fructose when you indulge in junk food often. We’re not just talking about hamburgers, potato chips and the like, but also elusive softdrinks that can creep in your life quite sinisterly. Working in the office OT and feeling a little tired? Not a big deal. Simply reach out to the pantry fridge and grab yourself a 7-up. You know how the story goes, so watch out for these moments.

Aside from processed foods, fresh fruits are actually another easy to acquire fructose. Sounds bad? Not exactly. Although fruits contain high fructose, an inherently high fibre content in most of them (like bananas and papayas) informs your brain that satiety is met. Since hunger is disposed of, there isn’t a need for eating anymore, so any further fructose intake is thereby controlled. Besides, fruits are a primary source of vitamins so there is absolutely no reason to cut down on it. Cut away the soda drinks and desserts if you must.

Now that you have a better idea of the magical workings of sugar and especially fructose, how do you deal with it on a day to day basis? To save you from cracking your brains, we have some advice for you:

• Stay away from processed foods and especially soft drinks as much as possible
• Avoid sitting for too long; stand up and walk around a little every hour
• Have a few “sugar” days a week to avoid withdrawal symptoms
• Replace Dessert with something like fresh fruits or fruit juice

Sugar isn’t necessarily bad when taken in higher amounts, as glucose and fructose can boost sporting performances and even give your brain an energy lift (the brain favors glucose as an energy fuel) when you’re falling asleep in class. Just remember that like all things, sugar should taken in moderation.

Follow these simple tips and you’ll be on track to a healthy sugar life. It’s inevitable that you’ll eat sugar all the time so don’t be paranoid consuming sugar regularly in your diet. Instead, focus on how you can reduce sugar intake and watch out for those that are rich in fructose.

Reposted From Yahoo! Southeast Asia

A Repost From TJ Burgonio of Philippine Daily Inquirer

Erap Estrada provides laughs, Imeldific the songs

By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

3:05 am | Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

FORMER President Joseph Estrada and ex-first lady Imelda Marcos provide the entertainment at the Santiagos’ wedding anniversary. Joseph Agcaoili

The reception dinner that followed Sunday’s renewal of vows between Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and her husband Narciso Santiago Jr. had no less than an ousted dictator’s wife as guest singer and an ousted President as party joker.

Former President Joseph Estrada got to dish out some of his so-called “Eraptions” while former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos sang a Visayan song and a Perry Como oldie.

As soon as he was called to speak before the VIP gathering at the Manila Hotel, Estrada launched into a spiel as though playing before a crowd in a comedy bar.

Estrada said he and his wife, former Sen. Luisa “Loi” Ejercito, had reached their golden wedding anniversary because she simply refused to listen to his favorite Engelbert Humperdinck song, “Release Me.”

Then turning to Senator Santiago, Estrada said: “I’m sure you will reach that (golden anniversary) too because my kumpadre Jun doesn’t have the nerve to sing that to you.”

Estrada, one of the principal sponsors at the rites held at Manila Cathedral to mark the Santiagos’ 40th wedding anniversary, also wondered aloud why the senator had many dos and don’ts written on the invitation.

“I had to be here at 5:30 p.m. ‘for support,’” he noted, citing one of the dos. “Then in the letter, you said ‘I can’t pay you. So you and Imelda have to sing, and you should bring your own piano and pianist.’”

Surveying the crowd at the hotel’s Centennial Hall, the former President acknowledged the mix of former and incumbent government officials, setting them up for his next punch line.

“Ex-ambassadors, ex-senators, ex-Cabinet members. There are so many exes,” he said. “But among all of them, I have the most exes: I’ve been an ex-movie actor, ex-mayor, ex-senator. I’ve been an ex-Vice President, an ex-President. I’ve been an ex-detainee.”

“And lastly, I’m now an ex-convict,” said Estrada, who was convicted of plunder in September 2007 and pardoned a month later by his successor, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Mere front act

But an “ex-singer” he’s not, Estrada said, thus closing his act by singing Robert Goulet’s “Always You.”

After his song, though, Estrada said he was only serving as a “front act” for Imelda Marcos.

Also a principal sponsor at the wedding, the 81-year-old widow of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos treated the diners to Perry Como’s “I Want to Give.”

Asked to do an encore, Marcos picked the Visayan song “Malipayon Ang Takna,” again to generous applause.

Estrada’s son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, also sang a duet, “Unforgettable,” with actress Heart Evangelista, who served as maid of honor in the wedding.

The younger Estrada actually stood in for the best man, President Aquino, who attended the 6 p.m. wedding but begged off from the reception, citing another appointment.

Show of civility

“I would have wanted for the President to come and sing a duet with Heart Evangelista, and then I would have talked to him about certain urgent problems on our national agenda particularly the Spratly Islands dispute on which we already had a consultation,” Senator Santiago told reporters.

Former President and now Pampanga Representative Arroyo, another principal sponsor, stayed at the reception only up to 9 p.m. and left just before the Estrada-Marcos numbers began.

Santiago said she was just happy to see her guests, particularly political archenemies Estrada and Arroyo, “greeting each other very heartily.”

“I suspected that they will greet each other civilly. But they went beyond that. So that set the tone for this event,” she said.

The menu included seasonal salad with poached shrimp, cream of zucchini and spinach, guyabano sherbet, baked salmon, Australian beef tenderloin baked in mushroom crust, and frozen banana walnut crunch parfait.

Reposted From TJ Burgonio of Philippine Daily Inquirer

A Repost From Norman Bordadora of Philippine Daily Inquirer

‘We will defend what is ours’

Palace talks tough on Spratlys row

By Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer

12:36 am | Sunday, June 19th, 2011

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The deployment of the BRP Rajah Humabon—the Philippines’ only warship—to patrol the seas near Scarborough Shoal is meant to show the country’s resolve to defend its sovereignty over what it considers its undisputed territory, Malacañang said Saturday.

On Friday, President Benigno Aquino III said the Philippines “will not be pushed around [just] because we are a tiny state compared to [China].”

He reiterated the Philippines’ right to explore its seas despite China’s claims over the same.

The only World War II-era destroyer still in active service, the Humabon was sent to patrol the waters off Zambales after China sent Haixun 31, a helicopter-equipped 3,000-ton maritime patrol ship, on a voyage that will see it passing through the West Philippine Sea.

The Humabon’s displacement is only 1,390 tons. Acquired in December 1978 and commissioned by the Philippine Navy in February 1980, it is the Philippines’ only warship.

In Baguio City, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Eduardo Oban Jr. said on Saturday that “miracles on the table will resolve” the Spratlys row.

“Diplomacy will work,” he said at the Philippine Military Academy where he was the guest during the incorporation of 195 new cadets.

“It’s a way of saying that this is ours,” Secretary Ramon Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, said of Scarborough Shoal, which is also being claimed by China.

Scarborough Shoal lies about 220 kilometers from Zambales, 350 km from Manila, and more than 800 km from Hong Kong.

“We may be a small country, but we will do whatever we can to defend our sovereignty … Whatever capabilities we have, no matter how big or small, we’re going to assert our sovereignty,” Carandang said.

He also said that while the Philippines wanted a diplomatic and peaceful resolution to the dispute over the Spratly island chain—which is being claimed wholly or partly by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan—it was asserting its sovereignty over its territories.

Also on Saturday in a news briefing over government radio, presidential deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, said Malacañang expected China to continue its support for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the ongoing dispute with respect to territories in the West Philippine Sea.

“Our statements have always been very clear … Our approach is a rules-based settlement of the dispute, and we are seeking a multilateral approach to the dispute resolution,” Valte said.

“But I think our counterparts in China are saying the same thing. [T]here will be no use of force and they also want a diplomatic means to come up with a peaceful resolution of the problem,” she said.

Through its spokesperson, Commodore Miguel Rodriguez, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it found “no cause for worry” over the three-day military drills conducted by the Chinese Navy near the potentially resource-rich Spratlys.

In fact, he said in a text message, the military hoped to someday participate in joint military drills with China, with whom the Philippines had traded diplomatic barbs over alleged intrusions in disputed waters.

On the other hand, Parañaque Representative Roilo Golez cautioned the government against relaxing its claim over parts of the Spratlys despite repeated assurances from other claimant-countries, particularly China, that they would not start a war there.

“We should always keep our guard up, in spite of the conciliatory tone of the latest China statement on the Spratlys,” he said.

Golez said that when China occupied Mischief Reef near Palawan in 1995, Chinese authorities lulled their counterparts in the Philippines that they had only built temporary structures for their fishermen. Four years later, he said, the AFP discovered full-blown concrete military structures and facilities on Mischief.

Only recently, Golez said, China issued warnings, combined with physical harassment, that it owned the seas all the way to Recto (Reed) Bank, followed by a conciliatory message that it would not allow force.

“If we allow them to lull us again, we might wake up one morning witnessing a flotilla of PLA (China’s People’s Liberation Army) frigates patrolling Recto Bank which is a stone’s throw from Palawan’s west shoreline,” he said.

Henry Bensurto, secretary general of the Philippine permanent mission to the UN in New York, has pointed out that recent events in Recto bank tended to widen disputed areas in the Spratlys to include even those falling within Philippine jurisdiction.

“The Philippines firmly rejects any efforts in this regard. Such actions are inconsistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Bensurto said at the 21st Meeting of States Parties to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea held on June 13-17 at the United Nations.

At the same meeting, other nations such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Singapore also echoed the need to maintain peace and security in the region.

They also called “for the peaceful resolution of disputes as enshrined in the [Unclos]” in their national statements, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

In a statement on the DFA website, Bensurto called for the adherence to the rule of law in the West Philippine Sea and rejected efforts to broaden disputes.

He said the Philippines was committed to international law, particularly the Unclos. He added: “We expect nothing less from our international partners.

Reposted From Norman Bordadora of Philippine Daily Inquirer

A Repost From Greg Heakes of Agence France-Presse

Mavericks clinch first NBA championship

By Greg Heakes
Agence France-Presse

12:02 pm | Monday, June 13th, 2011

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Dallas Maverick’s Dirk Nowitzki (41) holds up the Larry O’Brien trophy and celebrates with teammates and team owner Mark Cuban after winning 105-95 against the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena on June 12, 2011 in Miami, Florida. Photo by Ronald Martinez, AFP

MIAMI – (UPDATE) Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks captured their first NBA championship Sunday with a 105-95 win over the Miami Heat — the team that ended Dallas’ shot at a title five years ago.

Jason Terry scored 27 points and Nowitzki finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks won the best-of-seven championship series four-games-to-two.

Germany’s Nowitzki was named Most Valuable Player of the finals, finally securing the NBA’s biggest prize to secure his place among the NBA legends.

“This is unbelievable,” said Nowitzki, who turns 33 next Sunday. “We are a resilient bunch. This team has come back from huge deficits all season long.”

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, celebrates wit Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson during the final seconds of the second half of Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena on June 12, 2011 in Miami, Florida. The Mavericks won 105-95 against the Miami Heat. Photo by David Phillip, AP

Terry ran the clock down in the final minute then passed to a wide open Shawn Marion who chose not to shoot as the seconds clicked down.

When the buzzer sounded Marion handed the ball to 17-year veteran guard Jason Kidd who tried twice before in the finals but failed to get a ring.

J.J. Barea had 15 points and five assists for the Mavericks, who clinched their first NBA championship in their 31 year franchise history.

LeBron James scored 21 points and Dwyane Wade finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who failed to send the series to a decisive seventh game despite having home court advantage.

“Hats go off to Dallas,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “There is an emptiness to it. It was a tough series. Sometimes you just come up short. Crunch time needed to be done, they made bigger plays than us.”

This year’s final was a rematch of the 2006 NBA championship series, which Miami took in six games for its first title in franchise history.

With Terry having a superb start to game six, the Mavericks led 53-51 at the end of the first half in what began as a game of runs by either side. Terry came off the bench to score 19 points in the first two quarters on eight-of-ten shooting.

Dirk Nowitzki (41) of the Dallas Mavericks celebrates with Jason Terry (31) in the second half of Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals at American Airlines Arena on June 12, 2011 in Miami, Florida. The Mavericks won 105-95 to win the series. Photo by David Phillip, AP

James had his best start of the series by scoring nine points and dishing three assists in the first quarter.

Tempers flared halfway through the second quarter when the Mavericks’ DeShawn Stevenson and Miami’s Udonis Haslem got into a shoving match.

Haslem was celebrating an Eddie House three pointer when he brushed past Stevenson who shoved him. The Heat players came charging off the bench and Mario Chalmers made a bee line for Stevenson.

Chalmers, Haslem and Stevenson all received technicals but no one was thrown out because a timeout had already been called before the players left the bench.

Nowitzki struggled early, scoring just a single point in the second quarter, and finished with three points on one-of-12 shooting in the opening half. He finished strong, however, by scoring 10 of his 21 in the fourth.

Dallas’s Ian Mahinmi of France nailed a buzzer-beating field goal at the end of the third to give the Mavericks a nine point lead at 81-72. Dallas got their own rebound and Terry ran down the clock and then pump faked James before slipping a short pass over to Mahinmi who got nothing but net.

The Heat had almost twice as many free throw chances as the Mavericks but hit just 60 percent of them. They also had 16 turnovers.

Although the Mavericks had several players in foul trouble in the fourth, they built their biggest lead of 13 points in the final period.

Reposted From Greg Heakes of Agence France-Presse

A Repost From Julie M. Aurelio of Philippine Daily Inquirer

China to neighbors: Keep out of Spratlys

Stop search for oil, sans permission, says envoy

By Julie M. Aurelio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

1:39 am | Friday, June 10th, 2011

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Vowing to assert sovereignty in the disputed Spratly Islands, China on Thursday warned its neighbors to stop searching for oil in the contested region without its permission.

The warning came amid a report from Hanoi that China, for the second time in two weeks, on Thursday harassed a Vietnamese vessel conducting seismic surveys within Vietnam’s continental shelf.

Vietnam’s prime minister said Hanoi was determined to protect its “incontestable” sovereignty over areas it claims in the South China Sea in an intensifying war of words with Beijing.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, smarting at Beijing’s stepped-up criticism of the Philippines, scoffed at China’s demands.

“For heaven’s sake, don’t lecture to us. We can equally lecture to you even if you are a giant,” Enrile told reporters.

A day after Beijing warned Manila to refrain from unilateral actions that could damage Chinese sovereignty, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao issued another warning.

Totally China’s territory

“We’re calling on all parties to stop searching the possibility of exploiting resources in the area where China has claims. At the same time, if the countries want to do so, you can talk to China about the possibility of having a joint cooperation development and exploitation of natural resources,” Liu said.

Asked about reports of oil exploration in the disputed region, Liu said: “China hasn’t started drilling oil wells in this region. Personally, I don’t know anything about what was reported. China has a large maritime area, for example in East China Sea.”

Recently, Manila lodged a protest in the United Nations over the harassment by a Chinese vessel of a Department of Energy vessel.

“It’s not harassment. It’s a normal practice and exercise of jurisdiction, and the rumor was the Chinese vessels made an ammunition assault, which is not true,” Liu said.

He added that the Reed Bank—which the Philippines calls Kalayaan—was “totally within China’s territorial claims.”

‘Bad rumor’

The ambassador urged all parties to set aside differences and engage in joint cooperation.

“Peaceful means is the only option for China and we’re determined to carry on with peaceful consultations with our partners, our neighbors who are also claiming the Nansha (Spratly) Islands. So I hope that all countries will face it with reality and consider overall peace and stability in the region,” Liu said.

The ambassador said it was unfortunate that the current dispute with the Philippines began with a “bad rumor,” referring to reports of Chinese jet fighters allegedly intruding into Philippine airspace near the Spratlys.

Liu denied the reports and added that these had been clarified with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

But Eduardo Batac, spokesperson of the Department of National Defense, said the Philippine military was standing by previous government statements on Chinese “intrusions.”

“We are bringing our case to the international community and we will let the international community be the judge with regard to the actions taken by the Chinese,” Batac said.

He declined to comment on strongly worded statements from Beijing.

Manila has accused Beijing of intrusions into its territory, citing six instances, including one in March when two Chinese patrol boats tried to ram a Philippine survey ship.

China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all claim territories in the South China Sea, which covers an important shipping route and is thought to hold untapped oil and gas reserves.

‘Paper boat’

Enrile said China was treating the Philippines like a “doormat” in the dispute over the Spratlys.

He said this was “normally the attitude of a powerful country against a weak country.”

Enrile said the best defense against such “bullying” was for the Philippines to build up its economic and military power, but he doubted that the country was in a position to do this now.

“If you have a bully as a neighbor, and you don’t want to prepare against that bully, you will be a doormat of your neighbor,” he said.

“We do not want to develop the wherewithal to tell the guy who is going to bully us, ‘You try to come near me and I’ll show you how to bite you like a flea. We can’t even act as a flea because we have no sting,’” he added.

The country’s “paper boat” is no match against China’s military might and the Philippines could not rely on the United Nations and even the United States to defend it from China, Enrile said.

“We can only pray, ‘God please help us.’ What are we going to fight China with? They would only send two destroyers, and we’d surrender,” he said. “You can raise your voice, but if they attack us, we run away.”

Beijing-Hanoi rift

In Thursday’s incident, a Chinese fishing boat deployed a “cable cutting device” and got it trapped in a network of underwater cables in use by a ship hired by Vietnam, the foreign ministry spokesperson, Nguyen Phuong Nga, said in Hanoi.

The report coincided with published comments by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, communist Vietnam’s most powerful figure, deploring a similar incident in May and underscoring the seriousness with which the government views it.

“We continue to affirm strongly and to manifest the strongest determination of all the Party, of all the people and of all the army in protecting Vietnamese sovereignty in maritime zones and islands of the country,” Dung said in comments reported by the Thanh Nien daily on Thursday.

He also reaffirmed “the incontestable maritime sovereignty of Vietnam toward the two archipelagos, the Paracels and Spratlys.”

Hundreds of people held a peaceful anti-China protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi on Sunday, the largest action of its kind since 2007. Protests are rare in authoritarian Vietnam.

Joint exploitations

In his news conference, Liu was asked about China’s plans to hold peaceful consultations despite exercising its jurisdiction over the islets.

The Chinese diplomat pointed to a previous cooperation between China, the Philippines and Vietnam on a seismic survey.

“That’s why we propose to the Philippine government to have joint exploitation in the areas with regard to development survey and exploitation of oil and gas resources, that’s the perfect formula. That’s why we call for a positive response from the Philippine side,” he explained.

“Let me reaffirm that China is firm (in) its claim to the territorial sovereignty over the area and at the same time is also firm in committing itself to a peaceful settlement of the issue,” he said.

The Chinese government believes the best way is to have joint cooperation and that China “cannot accept that one country taking unilateral actions for personal and private gains at the sacrifice of the interest of other parties,” Liu said.

He pointed out that through such a setup, all parties would benefit.

“That’s why we recognize the differences, the difficulties at this stage of finding a proper settlement over the territorial dispute, so the best formula is cooperation,” Liu said. With reports from TJ Burgonio, DJ Yap, AFP and Reuters

Reposted From Julie M. Aurelio of Philippine Daily Inquirer

A Repost From Marlon Ramos of PDI

More Gloria Macapagal Arroyo execs charged with plunder

By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

4:05 am | Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

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Former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez on Monday included Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and seven other ex-officials of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (Owwa) in the plunder case he had filed against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In his amended complaint with the Department of Justice (DoJ), Chavez said Baldoz and the other labor officials were remiss in their duty to protect the funds sourced from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Chavez claimed the officials illegally diverted some P550 million in Owwa funds to finance PhilHealth’s distribution of health cards. The program was purportedly designed to boost Arroyo’s presidential candidacy in 2004.

Speaking with reporters, Chavez said Owwa funds were “private, special trust funds” which should not “co-mingle” with public funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

“There is nothing in the Constitution or any statute that authorizes even the President or the board of trustees of Owwa to transfer this money belonging to the OFWs to Philhealth,” he said.

Along with Baldoz, also charged were former Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, Manuel Imson, Mina Figueroa, Caroline Rogge, Victorino Balais, Gregorio Oca and Virginia Pasalo, who then comprised the Owwa board of trustees.

Baldoz was cited in her capacity as then administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Baldoz and her coaccused were also charged with qualified theft, malversation of funds, graft and corruption, and violation of the Omnibus Election Code and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials.

“By schemingly facilitating the diversion of the Owwa funds for activities alien to its avowed purpose of directly and exclusively benefitting OFWs…respondents have fallen far short of the degree of fidelity to the trust reposed in them,” Chavez said in his 26-page updated complaint.

The former solicitor general had earlier filed a similar plunder complaint against Arroyo, former Foreign and Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, then PhilHealth president Francisco Duque III and former Owwa Administrator Virgilio Angelo.

He said three former mid-level Malacañang officials furnished him the documents that allegedly showed how the accused manipulated the transfer of the Owwa funds.

Accompanied by two associates, Chavez filed his modified complaint during the first preliminary investigation of the case.

Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, and her coaccused were no-shows at the hearing called by a DoJ panel of prosecutors.

Benjamin Santos, Arroyo’s counsel, said the former president did not attend the proceedings since she had yet to complete her counter-affidavit.

According to Santos, they have until June 11 to file their answer to Chavez’s complaint.

Reposted From Marlon Ramos of PDI

A Repost From PDI/AP

Nadal beats Federer again in French Open final

AP

1:49 am | Monday, June 6th, 2011

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Photo by AP

PARIS—Rafael Nadal is still better than the best player of all time, beating Roger Federer for the fourth occasion in the French Open final 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1 on Sunday.

Nadal, who equaled Bjorn Borg’s record of six French Open titles and earned his 10th major overall with the victory, dropped to his knees and covered his face after Federer sent a forehand long on match point.

The top-ranked Nadal improved his record at Roland Garros to 45-1, and to 17-8 against Federer. In Grand Slam finals, Nadal is now 6-2 against his main rival.

He’ll also keep his No. 1 ranking.

Nadal was playing to Federer’s backhand on Court Philippe Chatrier, but even the 16-time Grand Slam champion’s forehand was off. He committed 56 unforced errors in the match, while Nadal had only 27.

In the break of service that finally broke Federer for good, the Swiss missed an easy forehand, double-faulted and then put a forehand into the net. That gave Nadal a 3-1 lead in the fourth set, and enough to hold on for victory.

Nadal is the second youngest man to reach 10 major titles. The only one younger was Borg.

He’s also about six months younger than Federer was when he won his 10th.

Reposted From PDI/AP