Nadal wins 14th French Open for 22nd overall grand slam title
Nadal wins 14th French Open for 22nd overall grand slam title
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SportsWriters
Rafael Nadal won his 14th French Open title on Sunday, reinforcing his status as the “King of Clay.” The 36-year-old Spaniard beat Norwegian Casper Ruud in straight sets (6-3, 6-3, 6-0) in just under an hour and a half.
It was also his record 22nd Grand Slam title, and he won despite having to play with a foot numbed by medication.
35
Nadal became the oldest man to win a French Open title. He broke the record held by Andres Gimeno (also from Spain), who was 34 years and 305 days old when he captured Roland Garros in 1972.
"He's the greatest clay court player of all time and one of the greatest all-around players."
- Casper Rudd
Nadal exposed Rudd's backhand
There were only four backhand winners in Ruud’s entire match, none of which were groundstrokes, and only one in the first set. He committed 15 of his 23 forced errors in the match on the backhand, indicating Nadal’s dominance in crosscourt rallies.
"I could probably tell you all the finals and who he has played and who he has beaten, because I watched them all on TV."
- Casper Ruud
What About Wimbledon?
Nadal is hopeful that he will be able to compete at Wimbledon, which starts in three weeks, but it is doubtful that he will play any warm-up events.
Where does Nadal rank?
SportsWriters Top 10 Men’s Tennis Players GOAT
- ESP Nadal (Active)
- SUI Federer (Active)
- SRB Djokovic (Active)
- USA Connors
- SWE Borg
- USA Sampras
- USA McEnroe
- USA Lendl
- USA Agassi
- AUS Laver
Men’s Tennis: Players with the Most Tournaments Won – Singles (Open Era)
| Rank | Country | Name | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA | Jimmy Connors | 109 |
| 2 | SUI | Roger Federer | 103 |
| 3 | USA | Ivan Lendl | 94 |
| 4 | ESP | Rafael Nadal | 92 |
| 5 | SRB | Novak Djokovic | 87 |
| 6 | USA | John McEnroe | 77 |
| 7 | AUS | Rod Laver | 72 |
| 8 | SWE | Bjorn Borg | 66 |
| 9 | ROU | Ilie Nastase | 65 |
| 10 | USA | Pete Sampras | 64 |
Men’s Tennis: Players with the Most Grand Slam Tournaments Won – Singles
| Player |
Total
|
Australian Open
|
French Open
|
US Open
|
Wimbledon
|
| Rafael Nadal | 22 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 2 |
| Novak Djokovic | 20 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Roger Federer | 20 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Pete Sampras | 14 | 2 | – | 5 | 7 |
| Roy Emerson | 12 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Björn Borg | 11 | – | 6 | – | 5 |
| Rod Laver | 11 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Bill Tilden | 10 | – | – | 7 | 3 |
| Andre Agassi | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Jimmy Connors | 8 | 1 | – | 5 | 2 |
| Ivan Lendl | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | – |
| Fred Perry | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Ken Rosewall | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | – |
“Well, is very simple to understand for me. I don’t know, sometimes for you it’s a little bit different. It’s not about being the best of the history. It’s not about the records. It’s about I like what I do, you know. I like to play tennis. And I like the competition."
- Rafael Nadal
"He is a great champion, he is humble. He is the best athlete I have ever seen in any sport."
- John McEnroe
What's wrong with Nadal's Foot?
The tennis great started his Roland Garros campaign under an injury cloud as his chronic foot problem flared up during the Italian Open at the beginning of May. If the latest treatment, radiofrequency ablation of a nerve in Nadal’s foot, did not work, the Spaniard admitted he would consider undergoing surgery, potentially ending his dazzling career.
“I was able to play during these two weeks with extreme conditions. I have been playing with injections on the nerves. That’s why I was able to play during these two weeks, because I have no feeling in my foot."
- Rafael Nadal
“I DON’T KNOW WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, BUT I’M GOING TO KEEP FIGHTING TO TRY TO KEEP GOING. FOR ME, IT’S INCREDIBLE TO PLAY HERE. IT’S AN INCREDIBLE FEELING.”
- Rafael Nadal
