French Open 2022: Rafael Nadal - The clay court god is setting another monument
Rafael Nadal was crowned King of Roland Garros for the 14th time in his career. The conditions this year were more unfavorable than ever before.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jun 05, 2022, 07:25 pm
He has done it again: Rafael Nadal secured the title at the French Open in Paris for the 14th time in his career and thus put some distance between himself and Novak Djokovic or Novak Djokovic in the all-time Grand Slam list. Roger Federer. Nadal now holds at 22 Major trophies, his two pursuers at 20 each.
But that - at least one can conclude from previous statements by the Spaniard - Nadal will probably not waste a thought at the moment of triumph. The 36-year-old's path from Roland Garros these days was too emotional and difficult to deal with such statistics.
Nadal plays with his foot stunned
Because the Müller-Weiss syndrome - i.e. the death of bone parts on the navicular bone of the foot - also made life difficult for Nadal in the French capital. "My worst moment of this tournament was after my second round match against Moutet. I couldn't walk anymore. I had to numb my foot to be able to continue," the Spaniard explained to French television after beating Casper Ruud in the final.
In the coming week, Nadal will therefore choose a new treatment approach in order to be able to keep the pain in his left foot under control to some extent. "I can't go on like this, I have to find a solution," said the fifth in the world rankings, who announced at the award ceremony that he wanted to continue fighting.
Looking back at the French Open, it sounds like a dangerous threat to his opponents. With Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud, Nadal beat four top ten players and, given the circumstances, celebrated one of his most emotional triumphs.
"This win is very important. I'm happy to play tennis, I love the competition and being here in front of a crowd even more after the Corona pandemic. These are incredible feelings, so we'll see what we can do." like Nadal.
Chance of the Grand Slam lives
For the first time in his career, the Iberian still has a chance at the Grand Slam after the French Open, but due to the physical problems it seems more than unlikely that he will compete in Wimbledon. But regardless of whether Nadal will compete in the classic lawn in England, he can already look back on an almost unbelievable season.
At the beginning of the year Nadal had won the Australian Open out of nowhere, in Roland Garros he now followed up with another demonstration of power - and thus set another monument for himself. The coming weeks and months will show whether it will be the last of his impressive career. But it is already clear that Rafael Nadal has matured from clay court king to clay court god by his 14th title in Paris at the latest.
Here is the individual tableau for men
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