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Rafael Nadal demolished Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to win their 13th open French and match Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles on Sunday.
For world number one Djokovic, the defeat ended his hopes of an 18th Slam and of becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the top four twice.
The 34-year-old Nadal achieved his 100th victory at Roland Garros against just two losses since his debut in 2005.
The Spaniard, the oldest champion in Paris since Andrés Gimeno in 1972, claimed the title without losing a single set.
He ended the one-sided affair with just 14 unforced errors compared to his opponent’s 52.
“Congratulations to Novak for another great tournament. Sorry for today. We have played many times together: one day one wins, another the other,” Nadal said.
“After all the things I’ve been through in my career with injuries, I couldn’t have done it without my family.”
Nadal said he wasn’t even thinking about matching Federer’s record.
“It’s been a very difficult year. Winning here means everything to me, so it’s not about matching Roger at 20, for me today it’s just a Roland Garros victory.
“Roland Garros means everything to me. I spent most of the most important moments of my tennis career here.
“Playing here is a real inspiration. The love story I have with this court and this city is incredible.”
The 56th meeting between the world’s two best began under the roof of the Philippe Chatrier Court, intensifying the echo of a crowd limited to 1,000 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Conventional wisdom suggested that would favor Djokovic, but no one told Nadal who broke three times in the 45-minute first set.
The Spaniard hit 10 winners and only two unforced errors.
Djokovic’s error count was 13 with the Serb out of class even wasting three break points in the fourth game.
More concerning for the world number one: Nadal improved to 111-0 when he won the first set of best-of-five matches on clay in his career.
It was the first bagel of the first set in a Roland Garros final since 2004 when Gaston Gaudio rallied to defeat fellow Argentine Guillermo Coria in five sets.
Djokovic finally got on the board with a holding serve in the first game of the second set, but Nadal kept up his relentless drive, going for a double break for 4-1 when even the Serb’s usual deft touches on the drop shot left him.
Nadal closed out a two-set lead with his unforced error count at just six to Djokovic’s 30.
Nadal broke for a sixth time for a 3-2 lead in the third before Djokovic suddenly restored his reputation as the best returner in the sport by forging his first break of the afternoon 3-3.
However, there was no miraculous recovery as a double fault gave Nadal a 6-5 lead and took the title with an ace.
