French Open: The Eternal Nadal - the fascinating rule of the matador
Rafael Nadal clinched his 13th title at the French Open on Sunday afternoon. There is no end in sight to the Spaniard's dominance in Roland Garros.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Oct 11, 2020, 08:17 pm
When Rafael Nadal won the French Open for the first time in the spring of 2005, he did it with the impetuous force and force of a 19-year-old teenager. A decade and a half later, he is still and again and again the measure of all things in the red sands of Roland Garros - a man who has worn down and defeated entire generations of opponents. The good, the better and also the best.
And if a single game illustrated the power and glory of Nadal at the largest clay court tournament in the world, it was the last game of the mighty Emperor for the time being: When he fell on his knees on October 11, 2020, at 5:50 p.m. in the early evening he demoted Novak Djokovic, who was unbeaten in the world number one during the season, to the sad, frustrated extras of the French Open final with 6: 0, 6: 2 and 7: 5 and won his 13th title.
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Nadal on eye level with Roger Federer
It was a historic moment, this extraordinarily one-sided game against all expectations, the victory in the much-vaunted "battle of the giants": For the first time in his brilliant career, Nadal caught up with Roger Federer, who is currently at eye level, with the 20th Grand Slam cup win injured pausing maestro. “I'm just happy with my performance. I don't look at the numbers and records, ”said Nadal, who once again circled, almost naturally, in his own Parisian universe. Djokovic, the heavily beaten opponent, didn't have to say much to describe his feelings later, including the balance of power out there in the arena: “Everyone saw today why Rafa is called the king on clay. I do best. "
At the end of what was inevitably the strangest tennis year of all time, at least in Paris everything was sporty as always: Nadal, this eternal matador, drew his lonely, fascinating circles like an untouchable man - and the rest of the world could only watch him in amazement at all the splendor. At the age of 34, however, in the final he actually appeared astonishingly stronger than ever before, not only in this tournament, but in his personal Roland Garros history in general. “That was, clearly, the best Nadal I've ever seen,” said Boris Becker, once the coach of opponent Djokovic. Together with him, with Becker, Djokovic had won the French Open five years ago and also landed his only victory against the Mallorcan in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic could be happy about every single game
In the no less than 56th game between the two grandmasters, however, there was no real duel for a long time. But a solo effort by Nadal, who took the direction of the game with overwhelming determination and power - and stormed out of the starting blocks to a 6-0 win of the opening set. Even after that it didn't get much better for Djokovic, who switched sides with sagging shoulders and was visibly upset about what was going on under the closed roof of the Center Court. Namely, a humiliating and downgrading performance by Nadal, who conjured up his victory points from all possible and impossible positions. Incredible, but true: by the end of the second set, which Nadal won 6-2, the series winner had just made four mistakes in the struggle with the number one in the industry. "He played like he was in a frenzy, like someone that nothing on this planet can stop," said former world number one Mats Wilander.
Djokovic could be happy about every single game he won on that black Sunday, one of the blackest days ever as a frontman in the industry. In the third set he temporarily managed to get to a comparable level to Nadal. But in the end it was only respectable successes, honor points. The preliminary decision was made when Nadal managed the break to 6: 5 against the Serbs. Djokovic was already trotting to the bench like a poor sinner, knowing full well that it was over for him. Then Nadal served the game, he got down on his knees, was literally in his beloved element, the sands of Paris.
He had paused 211 days in the Corona era, from winning the title in Acapulco in February to his first match at the Masters in Rome - in preparation for the French Open. He lost there to the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, but it was clear to everyone that another Nadal would appear in Paris. The usual Nadal. The best clay court player of all time, the man who has now won 100 games under the Eiffel Tower and only lost two. And Nadal is not finished yet, far from it.