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TENNIS

Rafa Nadal breaks records with epic tenth French Open title

Rafael Nadal admits he doubted he'd ever win another Grand Slam title after a three-year drought at the majors and an ongoing battle with injuries and poor form.

Published: 12 June 2017 09:42 CEST
Rafa Nadal breaks records with epic tenth French Open title
Rafael Nadal coasted to a record 10th French Open title

On Sunday, the 31-year-old Spaniard coasted to a record 10th French Open title, demolishing Stan Wawrinka in a brutally one-sided final which also earned him a 15th Grand Slam crown.

Nadal triumphed 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 to become the first man in history to win the same major 10 times.

His collection of Slams now stands just three behind great rival Roger Federer, a staggering statistic coming just a year after he quit Roland Garros with a wrist injury.

His last Grand Slam title before this year's Roland Garros came in Paris in 2014 and he admitted that there were doubts over whether or not he'd recover his former powers.

“I have doubts every day but that's good as it makes me work hard with more intensity,” he said.

“You have to be humble and accept that you have to work to improve things.    

“I have doubts today, I had doubts in the last three years, I will have doubts in a few days.

“Life is never clear. If you have no doubts, then you are very arrogant. I am not an arrogant person.”

After winning his ninth Roland Garros and 14th major in 2014, Nadal's best performance at the Slams was two quarter-final spots.    His world ranking slipped as low as 10 in 2015 and his 2016 French Open was ended prematurely after the second round by a wrist injury.  

But he finished runner-up at the Australian Open in January, losing in five sets to Federer and he was back in business.  

He dominated the clay court season with titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

He lost just one match on clay all year while his win on Sunday took his Paris record to a staggering 79 wins and just two losses.    

Against world number three Wawrinka, his record is now 16 wins and three losses. On clay, it's 7-1.

Nadal went through the tournament without dropping a set for the third time in his French Open career.

He lost just 35 games in total, second only to Bjorn Borg's record of 32 in the Swede's 1978 title-winning season.  

“To win 10 Roland Garros titles is magical,” added Nadal.  

“I had tough times last year so it's great to have big success again.”    

Despite his dominance at the French Open, Nadal said he never took victory for granted.

He was aware of being within touching distance of the title in Australia in January when he was a break up in the final set only to lose to Federer.    

“At 4-1 in the third set I knew I was close. At 5-1, I thought probably I am going to win this.

“But I have come close before — in Australia this year and in 2012 in Australia (when he lost an epic final to Novak Djokovic).    

“So my mentality was that I cannot give Stan the chance to get back into the match.

“But I knew that I had been playing too good in the tournament to play a bad final.”

Nadal said he had not given up hope of taking back the world number one ranking that he last held in June 2014.  

“If I win I have chances to become number one — if I play well, why not?”

By Dave James / AFP

ROGER FEDERER

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?

Published: 11 June 2020 16:22 CEST
Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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