There were doubts from the start of the tournament. Rafael Nadal’s twelve Roland-Garros titles spanning from 2005 to 2019 spoke for themselves, but his loss to Diego Schwartzman in Rome along with the lower-bouncing conditions in Paris this year muddled the usual “Nadal is the undisputed favorite for Roland-Garros” narrative.
Yet in defeating top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5, Nadal proved once again that Roland-Garros is his kingdom. While his route to the final was likely made easier thanks to Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem’s early exits, Nadal was near his ruthless best in taking revenge on Schwartzman in the semifinals and rolling through Djokovic to claim the title.
Nadal boasted a staggering and imposing 99-2 record at Roland-Garros going into the final, but Djokovic’s spectacular 2020 (before the final, his only loss this year was a default to Pablo Carreño Busta at the U.S. Open) and Nadal’s lack of a win against a top-10 player before the final cast doubts over Nadal’s status as favorite. But it took exactly one point on Court Philippe-Chatrier (the roof was closed, which seemed to favor Djokovic) for Nadal to assert himself.
An aggressive backhand forced an error from Djokovic for 15-all in the first game, and while Nadal lost the next two points, he forced deuce from 40-15 down and soon had a break in hand to begin the match. Nadal was striking the ball with impressive cleanliness off both wings, consistently lashing sharp crosscourt angles that gave him the edge in baseline rallies. Djokovic pounded some beautiful winners of his own, but Nadal’s sliding, defensive forehands proved effective in resetting points, and Djokovic was often unable to crash the ball past his scrappy opponent.
Nadal did not allow Djokovic a game in the first set, yet the 6-0 scoreline does a poor job of reflecting the set. Djokovic was up 40-love before losing his serve for the third time at 0-4, and had a trio of break points in the previous game that he failed to capitalize on (no thanks to Nadal, who ripped two winners through the court — one forehand, one backhand). But tennis matches turn on the big points, and Nadal was performing decidedly better than his great rival when it mattered most.
The second set brought little encouragement for Djokovic; while he evaded break points to stop the bleeding in the first game and reached 15-30 on Nadal’s serve soon after, he was unable to live with Nadal and his breathtakingly high level and fell down a double break. Serving for the set at 5-2, 40-love, Nadal showed signs of nerves by double-faulting, but on his third set point Djokovic blazed a return wide and the defending champion had pocketed the second set.
Djokovic has refined his serve into a fearsome weapon over the last two years, but Nadal was getting them into play with remarkable frequency, a product of both his well-executed returns struck from deep positions and Djokovic hitting many safer serves not aimed extremely close to the lines. As a result, Djokovic was hardly getting any cheap points (at one point, he celebrated sarcastically upon delivering a rare unreturned serve) instead of the steady stream that would likely be necessary was he going to defeat Nadal.
In the final frame, Djokovic’s usual fiery emotions on court surfaced, with the world number one having been reserved up to this point. A poor game at 2-all saw him fall down a break yet again, but a backhand winner down the line evened the set and brought with it a huge roar of triumph. The following two games felt more reminiscent of the desperately close Djokovic-Nadal duels of years past, but Nadal secured holds at 3-4 and 4-5, and while Djokovic produced a bullet of an overhead smash from the baseline at 5-5, 15-all, Nadal reeled off the next six points of the final, closing the match with a curling ace out wide.
He sank to his knees, either yelling happily or laughing in the moment of victory. Even as he has built his haul of Roland-Garros titles to unprecedented heights, Nadal seems to feel the joy of each trophy in Paris as keenly as the first, which he won as a 19-year-old in 2005.
Djokovic has taken no small amount of pain at Roland-Garros over the years. He absorbed a seventh defeat at the hands of Nadal in Paris with today’s final, and while Djokovic has made five appearances in the championship match, he has just one title to show for it. Besides some admirable third-set resistance, much of his trademark fight was not apparent throughout the final. His traditionally solid game leaked unforced errors that Nadal time and again punished him for. The loss was his most lopsided in a major final, and with the Double Career Grand Slam at stake — a feat neither Nadal nor Roger Federer have accomplished — Djokovic may feel the sting of this loss for some time.
A narrative sidelined for much of the past fortnight returned in force as Nadal flowed through the final: in beating Djokovic, Nadal secured his twentieth major title, tying Federer (who had held the record since Wimbledon in 2009). While he has always led their head-to-head rivalry, when it comes to the tally of major titles, Nadal has lagged behind Federer since the legendary Swiss secured his first at Wimbledon in 2003. Until now.
The ever-continuing debate over who the best male tennis player ever is has been set ablaze yet again given Nadal’s 13th Roland-Garros title. Along with being tied for the lead in major titles on the men’s side, Nadal has won 20 of his 30 matches in majors against his two biggest rivals (10 of 14 against Federer), and now has a three-major lead over Djokovic. His claim for being the GOAT of men’s tennis is currently as strong as it has ever been.
Perhaps what is most impressive about Nadal’s recent string of titles at Roland-Garros is that he has hardly been pushed. Since his first round match in 2017, he has lost just three sets and won four straight titles. The gap between Nadal and the rest of the field at Roland-Garros has been brought into stark view yet again.
Djokovic, a 17-time major champion himself, has made his intention to chase down Federer’s tally of 20 majors well known. But now that his second great rival has reached the leading men’s total, his task has grown more difficult. At this point in their careers, Nadal is far likelier to win additional majors than Federer. In today’s final, Nadal secured a fourth Roland-Garros title in which he did not drop a set. If he can reproduce the level of play that rendered Djokovic helpless today, he will surely win additional titles in Paris. And the finish line that Djokovic is throwing himself towards will begin to move.
Too good article…kudos dear racketblog.com..