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International
Rafael Nadal won his 20th Grand Slam tournament at the French Open, overtaking record winner Roger Federer.
In the final, the Spaniard, who triumphed in the Paris arena for the thirteenth time, beat world number 1 Novak Djokovic by 6: 0, 6: 2, 7: 5.
Nadal went without a set loss throughout the tournament and at the same time celebrated his 100th victory at Roland-Garros. He now also holds the record for the longest time difference between the first and (so far) the last Grand Slam victory. The 34-year-old Spaniard won his first title at the French Open in 2005, 15 years ago. In the world ranking, however, he remains clearly behind Djokovic.
Djokovic has no chance
The game was not as one-sided as the result suggests, as the match time of 2:41 hours suggests. Nadal was very aggressive from the first minute and won almost all the important points. Djokovic never had a real shot at his second French Open title. While he had five break opportunities, his opponent developed no fewer than 18 chances.
Completely different conditions compared to the usual French Open date in May and June did nothing to change Nadal’s dominance on clay. Before the tournament, the southpaw from the island of Mallorca complained about the wetter courts and the new balls, with which it was “almost impossible” to play tennis on clay. There was also a single preparatory tournament with Rome, in which Nadal failed Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals, for which he had to travel to Paris without the usual self-confidence. And finally, a closed-roof final was played for the first time. In the end, none of that mattered: as always, he was practically unbeatable on the beloved tracks at Stade Roland-Garros. So far 102 games have lost just two.
Nadal ties at the height of Federer
With 20 Grand Slam titles (13 in Paris, 4 at the US Open, 2 at Wimbledon and 1 in Australia), Nadal is now on par with Roger Federer, who interrupted the season in February and after two knee surgeries in Australia in January. wants to return. Nadal’s six Grand Slams victories in his 30s are also a record. Djokovic remains after his first sporting loss this year (in addition to disqualification at the US Open) with 17 titles.
