Nadal the living legend created his own record
Nadal the living legend created his own record.Rafael Nadal equalled Bjorn Borg’s record of 6 French Open wins. Nadal’s record at the Paris venue of Roland Garros is singularly impressive. 52 match wins, one loss.
Spaniard beat Novak Djokovic in four sets 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 – in a match spread across two days because of rain. Nadal had been two sets up before inclement weather stopped yesterday’s final, and a double fault serve from Serbian Djokovic today sealed Nadal’s victory.This is Nadal’s 11th grand slam title.
Defeat for Djokovic means he misses out on becoming the first man since Rod Laver over 40 years ago to hold all four major titles at once.
Victory,
which was achieved on a Djokovic double fault, allowed him to break the
tie for six French Opens he shared with Bjorn Borg.
It
was the 26-year-old's 11th Grand Slam title, taking him one behind Roy
Emerson, three off Pete Sampras and five away from the record of 16 held
by Roger Federer.
For
five-time major winner Djokovic, the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian
Open champion, it was the end of his dream of emulating Don Budge (1938)
and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) by holding all the Grand Slams at once.
He was left to regret his unforced error count of 53 which undermined his challenge.
After
Sunday's suspension, the players, meeting in a fourth successive Grand
Slam final, resumed with Nadal leading 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2, but with
Djokovic in the ascendancy and serving for a 3-1 lead in the fourth set.
But
a forehand error from Djokovic, with the court at his mercy, gave Nadal
a break point and the Spaniard seized it when the Serb had been left
flat-footed by a net cord which allowed his opponent to push through a
winner.
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