OT: Nadal wins 14th French Open and 22nd Grand Slam title in straight sets.
Rafael Nadal continues to amaze, raising his record at the French Open to 112-3 all time. He just won his 14th French Open title, and his 22nd grand slam title - further separating himself from Djokovic and Federer (20 each). His play today in the final was truly incredible. He played nearly flawlessly - while maintaining his relentlessly aggressive approach. 6-3, 6-3, 6-0. He closed the match winning the last 11 games. Witnessing historical greatness is always a treat.
No doubt about this one from the first point.
Ruud's good, but he's not ready.
Sadly, as I tend to be a negative nancy sometimes; this was one of the more boring French Open tourneys I can remember. Nadal v Djokovic was awesome, but outside of that, not much to say about this one. The two finals were total duds.
I certainly hear you on the lack of competitiveness in the match. However, having watched Nadal today - this was not due to poor play by Ruud, but instead, brilliant tennis by Nadal. Essentially every return was deep, every excellent shot was challenged, and he won almost every point on pinpoint winners/ not unforced errors. Today was a masterpiece by the greatest to ever do it - a thing of beauty
Oh for sure- Nadal was laser-sharp as always. Ruud played a heck of a tournament; he's just not championship-level quite yet.
Nadal-Zverev was looking like an epic match until the injury. What a shame.
Iga Swiatek has been so dominant this year she could set a lot of records. I don’t think she’s great on grass though.
I am still amazed at his level of play even with all the injuries he had in his career. What an athlete
The fact that Rafa still plays at this level at his age and the endless list of injuries that he has endured is absolutely astounding. Rafa had to take painkilling injections in his left foot to get through the tournament. He may be out for a while.
I hope he can get healthy, because he is such an awesome tennis player.
I saw a headline that asked whether experience or youth would prevail.
That might be a legit contrast if Nadal was old or the youth was on a roll.
But nah.
He is now the oldest champion at the French Open at 36. The previous oldest winner was 34 back in 1972. Clay is a surface that favors the young, athletic, highly fit player - not someone in their late 30s, which is generally dinosaur age for clay tennis. I understand that this age discrepancy may have been a bit of a contrived headline, but what he did at his age with his health issues today is nothing short of incredible.
Just not a Nadal fan, he's certainly the greatest clay court player ever, but when 14 out of 22 titles are on one surface I still think Novak and Roger are better overall.
That’s ridiculous. 12 of Djokovic’s slams were on hard courts. 9 alone at the AO. If he wins 2 more they are likely on hard, his favorite surface, and he too would have 14 slams on one surface out of 22.
Among other comparisons:
Nadal is the only one to have a career golden slam (along with Agassi).
Djokovic has only won 2 slams on clay while Nadal has won 6 on hard. So who’s the better all-around player?
Nadal has won at least two at all 4 grand slams
You can go around and around on those. Nadal also played two full years where he didn't have to face Djokovic (and a few more before Djokovic reached his prime). Djokovic never had one year in his career without facing Nadal in *his* prime (except for injuries, but that's a different issue).
Not saying Djokovic is a better player, necessarily, but it's awfully close. Nadal is the best ever on clay, that's for sure. But I'll take Djokovic on hard court (and at least over Nadal on grass, and maybe over Federer). All-around? Let's wait until their careers are over ...
Another mind boggling statement.
Nadal had to face Federer in nearly every final when Federer was in his prime between 2004 and 2010. Djokovic, who was basically the same age as Nadal around that time only won one slam. After 2010, Federer was older and suffering through various injuries and it’s only then when Djokovic started winning. Between 2010 and 2020 Djokovic and Nadal were meeting in a lot of finals but during that period and in 2021, Nadal and Federer were often out with injuries. Ironically, I googled to see if Djokovic was out with a number of injuries during that decade and what came up were stories about his faking injuries or using them as an excuse. (He was out at the end of 2017)
The truth is Nadal had to play Federer in his prime and then battle Djokovic in his prime when he came on in the next decade. And in the words of Coach Harbaugh, Nadal acquitted himself quite well.
On the other hand, Djokovic couldn’t win when Federer was in his prime and battling Nadal, and could only win when Fed was in decline and others like Murray and Nadal had periodic injuries.
Fed, by the way did come back after a recovery period to win 3 of 5 slams in 2017 and 2018. And at Wimbledon in 2019, a 37 year old Fed took a 32 year old Djokovic to a 5th set tie breaker tied at 12 games each. It was the longest final at Wimbledon at that point.
Superb comment, BoFan. Somehow, people forget the number of majors Djokovic has won on hard-court (or simply dismiss is out of hand as a "thing", while insisting Nadal's dominance on clay somehow diminishes Rafa's achievement.)
To flip the discussion a little more, just imagine if there were two clay-court Grand Slams every year but only one hard-court major.
12 of Djokovic’s slams were on hard courts
The Australian and US Open don't exactly use the same surface though.
If Nadal only had 4 French Open titles (instead of 14), he would have 12 GS titles. 4 French, 4 US Open, 2 Wimbledon, and 2 Australian. That alone would be an astounding feat and you would have to say Rafa is a well-rounded player.
The fact that this well-rounded player is also the greatest clay court player of all time, adding another 10 French Open Championships is beyond anything we are likely to ever see again.
Nadal leads Djokovic 20 - 8 on clay, while Djokovic leads Nadal 20 - 7 on the hard courts. They are 2 - 2 on grass. Both are great players, being great on clay or hardcourts does not diminish either's accomplishments. BTW - Rafa is also 24 - 16 vs the great Roger Federer.
Nadal is a terminator. We keep going.
Djokovic is the best
Scoreboard!
Solid insight, PoopP.
I'm a big Nadal fan but I'm part Norwegian so part of me was rooting for Ruud today. Ruud is still young and full of potential. I think nerves and a lack of experience might have been big factors in his loss today. He's already up to #8 in the rankings and is second only to Nadal on clay right now. He's on the right path and is likely to be a top contender for many years.
Nadal just was too good today. But his health problems might prevent him from playing at a top level more than a year or two more. We'll see.
That is what I thought when he couldn't play at US Open. Hope I am remembering right. I remember thinking with injuries he is not going to be able to compete at the high level and fizzle away. Here we are now. That dude is incredible.
Yes he was injured last year.
I think this is Nadal’s last year. The chronic foot injury he has is very painful and he may have it the rest of his life. I think he will try to finish out the year at Wimbledon and the Open and then hang it up. He has no reason to continue. He doesn’t care about being the GOAT. He wants to enjoy himself and tennis may not offer that for him anymore. I doubt he even tries a warm up tournament on grass if he makes Wimbledon. So any success at Wimbledon will be a miracle. Let’s enjoy his last matches.
It is amazing, but I can't root for Nadal. If that body is all natural, well, I'd be surprised. Just looks like tennis's Mark McGuire.
Well, he did receive an injection of some RNA encapsulated in nanoparticles.
Rumor has he had at least 2 injections.