Further improving his own record, Rafael Nadal won the men’s tournament in the French Open for the 13th time for the 13th time as he defeated world-leading Novak Djokovic in three sets in Sunday’s final. The Mallorcan player caught up with Roger Federer at the top of the perpetual rankings with his 20th Grand Slam title.
The Spanish star reaped its 12th victory in Paris last year as a unique feat, collecting its 18th Grand Slam goblet. However, this year’s slag season, which has been shifted and shortened due to a coronavirus epidemic, has not become as bright as the previous ones: he was knocked out by Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals at his only tournament in Rome. The 34-year-old slag king retaliated against Argentina in the Garros semi-finals and is now preparing for the final with a stunning 99/2 win on the Roland Garros, losing no set so far this year in the French capital.
The 33-year-old Djokovic awaited his finale in the best possible form, boasting a 37/1 victory balance this year and suffering a single defeat in the U.S. Open 8th final. The Belgrade tennis player - who triumphed at Roland Garros in 2016 - dropped three sets in this year’s tournament, two of them in the semi-finals against the tired Stefan Cicipas for the fifth game.
As for the two of them against each other, Djokovic led 29-26 in the longest rivalry in tennis history, and the Serb driving to his 18th GS goblet may also have been motivated by the fact that Nadal suffered one of his two Paris defeats in the 2015 quarterfinals.
The 56th battle was also the first indoor final in Roland Garros ’124-year history, as the roof of the Philippe Chatrier Stadium, rebuilt this year, was closed due to rain. This circumstance favored Djokovic, as Nadal had barely won an indoor tournament during his career, and the cool weather and slower or heavier balls compared to the usual May conditions did not support him. In the inspired form of the 1200th professional match in Mallorca, he brought the opening set to 6: 0 with a triple break, and then at 1: 1 he took the serving of the much-degraded Serb again. Nadal held three non-forced errors at 3: 1, while his opponent, who was unsure at important points, was already at 22. He didn't slow down for the Spanish double break either, and after a good hour and a half he was already a double advantage.
Djokovic continued to score mostly with only drops, and he lost his serve again at 2: 2, but after that - for the first time in 2 hours and 10 minutes - he took the slag king's serve. The battle became more balanced, then at 5: 5 he made a double fault with the world’s first break ball, and Nadal confidently closed the meeting, which lasted 2 hours 41 minutes.
Nadal, who won Garroson's 100th game, received 1.6 million euros (568 million forints) in addition to the 86th trophy of his career, and can now call himself a 20-time Grand Slam champion, making it to record holder Roger Federer.
Result, final (men's singles):
Rafael Nadal (Spanish, 2nd) - Novak Djokovic (Serbian, 1st) 6: 0, 6: 2, 7: 5
Some men's finals from 2005:
2005: Nadal (Spanish) -Puerta (Argentine) 6: 7 (6-8), 6: 3, 6: 1, 7: 5
2006: Nadal-Federer (Switzerland) 1: 6, 6: 1, 6: 4, 7: 6 (7-4)
2007: Nadal-Federer 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
2008: Nadal-Federer 6: 1, 6: 3, 6: 0
2009: Federer-Söderling (Swedish) 6: 1, 7: 6 (7-1), 6: 4
2010: Nadal-Söderling 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 4
2011: Nadal-Federer 7: 5, 7: 6 (7-3), 5: 7, 6: 1
2012: Nadal-Djokovic (Serbian) 6: 4, 6: 3, 2: 6, 7: 5
2013: Nadal-Ferrer (Spanish) 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 3
2014: Nadal-Djokovic 3: 6, 7: 5, 6: 2, 6: 4
2015: Wawrinka (Swiss) -Djokovic 4: 6, 6: 4, 6: 3, 6: 4
2016: Djokovic-Murray (British) 3: 6, 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 4
2017: Nadal-Wawrinka 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 1
2018: Nadal-Thiem (Austria) 6: 4, 6: 3, 6: 2
2019: Nadal-Thiem 6: 3, 5: 7, 6: 1, 6: 1
2020: Nadal-Djokovic 6: 0, 6: 2, 7: 5
(Source: Source: sportrajongo.hu, mti / Photo: pixabay, mti)