PARIS — Rafael Nadal beat Casper Ruud in Sunday’s French Open final to win his 14th Roland Garros championship and 22nd Grand Slam title. He also added two records to his collection.
Nadal won the title two days after his 36th Birthday. This made him the oldest winner of the clay-court tournament’s title.
Ruud was leading 3-1 in set 2. This deficit spurred Nadal’s to increase his level. He won the 11 remaining games.
Nadal played so well and efficiently that he accumulated more than twice the number of winners as Ruud (37 to 16). Nadal made 16 errors compared to Ruud’s 26, and committed less unforced errors.
He covered his face with taped-up fingers and a Nadal down-the-line backhand when it came to an end.
At age 19, the Spaniard won his first Paris victory in Paris. There has never been a woman or man who won the singles trophy at a major event as many times as Nadal, his victory in Paris in 2005. Nadal has won more Grand Slam titles.
He is two points ahead of Roger Federer, his rival, who hasn’t played in nearly a year following a series of knee surgeries, and Novak Djokovic who missed the Australian Open in Jan because he wasn’t vaccinated against COVID-19, and lost to Nadal at Roland Garros.
Nadal’s age and the ongoing pain in his left foot, which has been a problem for many years, has caused him to repeatedly state that he doesn’t know if each Court Philippe Chatrier match will be his last.
It doesn’t seem like a good idea to give up now, seeing as he fought his way past four French Open competitors ranked in the top 10. 9 Felix Auger – Aliassime in round four, No. 1 Djokovic in quarterfinals, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, who was injured in his foot and had to retire from the quarterfinals, No. 8 Ruud).
Nadal’s finals score at Roland Garros was 14-0, while his overall record at his favorite tournament was 112-3.
Nadal has achieved so much already and is now halfway to a calendar year Grand Slam. This is thanks to his titles at the Australian Open as well as the French Open.
Ruud, a Norwegian 23-year-old, was competing in his first Grand Slam final. He hadn’t played in a major semifinal before now.
He considers Nadal his idol. He recalled watching the Paris finals of Nadal’s previous years on TV. He trained at Nadal’s tennis academy in Mallorca.
They’ve played many practice sets together with nothing more than bragging rights. They won them all, with Nadal winning most of the time. Ruud laughed that it was because he was being polite.
They had never met before Sunday’s match, which saw them face off in a real match. Nadal proved, as he does so often, why it’s he’s the King of Clay and one of the greatest players in the game.
