with the Mousquetaires Cup (The Musketeers) during the podium
ceremony after winning the men’s singles final tennis match against
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic at the Philippe Chatrier court, on Day 15
of The Roland Garros 2020 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on
October 11, 2020. MARTIN BUREAU / AFP
Rafael Nadal demolished Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to
win his 13th French Open and equal Roger Federer’s all-time record
of 20 Grand Slam titles on Sunday.
For world number one Djokovic, the defeat ended his hopes of an
18th Slam and of becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to
win all four majors twice.
Nadal, 34, claimed his 100th match win at Roland Garros against
just two defeats since his 2005 debut.
The Spaniard, the oldest champion in Paris since Andres Gimeno
in 1972, claimed the title without dropping a set.
Maybe 2⃣0⃣2⃣0⃣ isn’t so bad after all
#RolandGarros
pic.twitter.com/btOELhMzl5— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) October 11, 2020
He finished the one-sided affair with just 14 unforced errors to
his opponent’s 52.
“Congrats to Novak for another great tournament. Sorry for
today. We’ve played plenty of times together – one day one wins,
another the other,” said Nadal.
“After all the things I have been through in my career with
injuries, I could not have done it without my family.”
Nadal said he wasn’t even thinking about matching Federer’s
record.
“It’s been a very tough year. Winning here means everything to
me so it’s not about equalling Roger on 20, for me today it’s just
a Roland Garros victory,” said Nadal who had skipped the US Open
due to the global health crisis and was playing just his second
tournament since February.
“Roland Garros means everything to me. I spent most of the most
important moments of my tennis career here.
“Just playing here is a true inspiration. The love story I have
with this court and city is unbelievable.”
For Djokovic, it was just his second loss of 2020 following his
default at the US Open.
– ‘King of clay’ –
“Today, Rafa showed why you are the king of clay. I was
out-played by a better player.”
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Nadal also used his victory speech to thank organisers for
staging the tournament, pushed back from its traditional May-June
slot due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I want to send a message to everyone around the world. We are
facing one of the worst moments that we remember in this world,
fighting against this virus. Keep going, stay positive.
“We will get through this and we will beat the virus soon.”
The 56th meeting between the world’s top two started under the
roof of Court Philippe Chatrier, intensifying the echo of a crowd
limited to 1,000 due to the pandemic.
Conventional wisdom suggested that would favour Djokovic but
nobody told Nadal who broke three times in the 45-minute opening
set.
The Spaniard hit 10 winners and just two unforced errors.
Djokovic’s error count was 13 with the out-of-sorts Serb even
squandering three break points of his own in the fourth game.
More worrying for the world number one — Nadal improved to 111-0
when winning the first set of best-of-five matches on clay in his
career.
It was the first opening set ‘bagel’ in a Roland Garros final
since 2004 when Gaston Gaudio recovered to defeat Argentine
compatriot Guillermo Coria in five sets.
Djokovic finally got on the board with a service hold in the
first game of the second set but Nadal maintained his
relentless push, going to a double break for 4-1 as even the Serb’s
usual deft touches on the drop shot deserted him.
Nadal wrapped up a two-set lead with his unforced error count at
just six to Djokovic’s 30.
Nadal broke for the sixth time for a 3-2 lead in the third
before Djokovic suddenly restored his reputation as the sport’s
best returner by carving out his first break of the afternoon for
3-3.
However, there was to be no miracle recovery as a double fault
handed Nadal a 6-5 lead and he took the title with an ace.
AFP
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/10/12/nadal-wins-french-open-matches-federers-grand-slam-record/