Rafael Nadal clinches historic 14th French Open singles title

The Spaniard also becomes the oldest player to win the Grand Slam.

Rafael Nadal is the French Open 2022 champion. For the past two weeks, the championships at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France gave the fans a lot of entertainment. Signing off in style, the final day saw the conclusion of one of the most highly anticipated Men’s Singles draw. The 36-year-old was in a league of his own and obliterated his opponent, Casper Ruud by 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 to lift the title for the 14th time in his illustrious career. 

Rafael Nadal breaks a longtime record set by his countryman Andres Gimeno as the oldest Roland Garros men’s singles champion in history, a record which was set 50 years ago. He also extended the record of winning the most number of Grand Slams with his 22nd win, two ahead of Roger Federer.

The ‘King of Clay’ wins the French Open for the 14th time, which is the highest number for any individual winning any major event in tennis. That record is followed by nine titles at the Australian Open by Novak Djokovic and eight titles at Wimbledon by Roger Federer. Another astonishing stat of 112-3 win-loss record just shows how dominant the Spaniard is at the French Open.

Casper Ruud was playing his first-ever Grand Slam final and it was showing in his performance. To come up against the King of Clay, a player he idolised since his younger days was always going to be a strong challenge. The Norwegian gave Nadal some sort of competition in the first set despite losing it by 6-3. However, the difference in mentality was apparent when Rafael won the last 11 games after trailing 3-1 in the second set.

Playing through the pain

Rafael Nadal took several injections to continue to play in the French Open 2022. Talking about his return in the future to the Roland Garros, he said, “Of course, I would love to keep coming, but at the same time we need to find a solution for that because I can’t keep going the way that I am doing,”

“It’s obvious that I can’t keep competing with the foot asleep,” Nadal explained later press conference. “It’s a risk that I wanted to take to play here. Not a risk that I want to keep taking to keep going in my future.” The Wimbledon starts in three weeks and a lot will depend on the medical team’s ability in alleviating the pain in Nadal’s foot.

Americans fall at the final hurdle in Women’s Doubles

Over at the Women’s Doubles bracket, the final saw the American pair of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula face the French duo of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic. Eventually, buoyed by the home support, the French pairing won the final by a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the Court Phillipe-Chatrier. 

It was a bittersweet end to the campaign of the eighth seed who looked favourites to lift the title. In particular, the 18-year-old Coco Gauff lost two finals at the French Open 2022 (singles and women’s doubles). The youngster will certainly take the positives from the tournament and come back stronger. 

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