Roger Federer enjoyed a history-making day back on June 7, 2009 as he finally won the French Open.

The Swiss great overcame Robin Soderling, the man who had earlier in the tournament dealt Rafael Nadal his first ever defeat at Roland Garros, in the final.

Federer's 6-1 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 triumph saw him complete the career Grand Slam and in the aftermath he described it as his "greatest victory".

Given the 20-time major winner's laundry list of achievements, that claim may seem dubious.

Here we look at the statistical context around his success in Paris to examine whether – 11 years on – it is worthy of the title bestowed upon it by Federer.

SHOCKS, COMEBACKS KEY TO CAUSE

Federer faced zero of the other three members of the big four in winning the title. Nadal's loss to Soderling was obviously key, while Novak Djokovic was beaten by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the round of 32 and Andy Murray came up short against Fernando Gonzalez in the quarter-finals.

His route to the final proved an arduous one. Federer endured three matches that lasted over three hours and came through two five-setters. 

He recovered from two sets and a break down to beat Tommy Haas in the last 16 and turned around a two sets to one deficit against Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-final.

The recovery against Haas was a remarkable Houdini act. Haas was two games away from victory and had break point at 7-6 7-5 4-3, but a clean winner from Federer turned the tide.

Recalling the match recently for Roland Garros' official website, Haas said: "I looked at that as a match point because he hadn't broken me up until that point I believe and I was serving well.

"I could see him running around that inside-out forehand... he was preparing for it. And he just hits it inside the line for a clean winner. It's almost like the Rocky IV movie. It's almost like I start bleeding after that game. And he cut me and got the momentum and never looked back."


MARATHON MAN FEDERER DOMINATES ON SERVE

Federer's trio of epics contributed to him spending a total of 18 hours and 35 minutes on court across his seven matches.

He needed such powers of longevity despite dominating on his serve.

Indeed, Federer served 80 aces, the most of any player to reach the last eight and won 78.9 per cent of points on his first serve.

Among quarter-final participants, only Del Potro was superior in that regard.

Federer also had the unenviable task of facing two French players en route to the final. He defeated Paul Henri Mathieu and Gael Monfils while surrendering just one set.

The home crowd may not have backed Federer in those contests, but they were roaring in approval come his performance in the final.


SODERLING SQUASHED

The final lasted just one hour and 55 minutes, Federer's second-fastest match of the tournament.

He needed only 23 minutes to wrap up the first set and there was to be no surprise comeback from Soderling despite a tight second.

Federer sent down 16 aces and won 84.6 per cent of his points on first serve, saving the only two break points he faced.

The win came in his 11th appearance at Roland Garros and his fourth final, Federer having lost his previous three appearances in the showpiece to Nadal.

Only once has he reached the final in Paris since, losing to Nadal in 2011.

Federer became the sixth man to achieve the career Grand Slam, with Nadal and Djokovic later following in his footsteps.

By defeating Soderling, Federer tied Peter Sampras with his 14th major title, reaching that total in 40 grand slam appearances, 12 fewer than Sampras (52). He would take sole ownership of the record 28 days later with a five-set win over Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon final.


IS IT HIS GREATEST?

"I just think it's an unbelievable achievement. I'm very proud of my career, obviously. I achieved more than I ever thought I would," said Federer afterwards.

"My dream as a boy was to win Wimbledon one day. I won that five times. To get [the Roland Garros title] at the end, as the last remaining grand slam, it's an incredible feeling.

"The waiting and the age definitely has a big impact on how important and how nice this victory actually is. It's been a long time coming and I'm happy I got it today. I'm very proud."

Federer will have felt an extra significance to the win given the scale of achievement it brought up and his previous issues getting over the line against Nadal.

The lack of a big-four opponent probably prevents it from being considered Federer's greatest slam triumph, with the victories against Nadal in the final of Wimbledon in 2007 and the Australian Open in 2017 among those that stand out from the pack.

Between his dominance of serve, the speed with which he swatted aside a dangerous opponent in Soderling, and the powers of recovery he showed against a player in Del Potro who would defeat him in the US Open final later in the year, it stands as one of the more underrated glories of his incredible career.