Nadal won a record seven French Open titles today by defeating Djokovic in 4 sets. This is not too surprising given Nadal's historical reign on clay courts and his two clay court titles earlier this year, both over Djokovic in the finals. His lefty spin that kicks high to the backhand, super speed and consistency make him virtually impossible to beat at Rolland Garros. Novak did beat Rafa in the last three Grand Slam finals so I'm sure Nadal wasn't going to take it too easily.
Here was Nadal's road to victory:
Finals - #1 Novak Djokovic SRB 6-4 6-3 2-6 7-5Semifinals - #6 David Ferrer ESP 6-2 6-2 6-1
Quarterfinals - #12 Nicolas Almagro ESP 7-6 6-2 6-3
4th Round - #12 Juan Monaco ARG 6-2 6-0 6-0
3rd Round - Eduardo Schwank ARG 6-1 6-3 6-4
2nd Round - Denis Istomin UZB 6-2 6-2 6-0
1st Round - Simone Bolelli ITA 6-2 6-2 6-1
Not to take anything away from his amazing performance but his half was definitely weaker than Djokovic's half of the draw. Novak (#1) had to get through Federer (#3) and Tsonga (#5) but hey, that's how tennis works.
Wait, why should tennis work this way? I never understood in tennis is how the seeding works like how the #1 seed faces the #5 seed in the QF. Shouldn't it be #1 vs. #8? Same with the SF, why is it #1 vs. #3 and #2 vs. #4? Shouldn't #1 face #4? Seems like an advantage to be ranked #2...
And as a last note, here is some food for thought:
Would Nadal have beaten Djokovic last year if they met in the French Open finals?
Does Roger Federer still have a Slam victory left in him if Rafa and Novak are healthy?
Will someone other than the top three players win a Slam this year?
The rain stoppage was definitely a factor. Djokovic is always a slow starter against Nadal and just when he started to turn it around by winning the third set and leading in the fourth, the rain came. Then it was a new beginning and it was predictable. I can understand why he was frustrated but he needs to start stronger against good players.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that totally changed the momentum. It's funny because after the match, when asked if Nadal wanted to face Novak in the finals, Rafa said he wanted someone else so that it would be easier. lol Honest guy. :)
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