The Spaniard, who has been 36 since Friday, defeated the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who was in a major final for the first time, after 2:18 hours in the final of the French Open with 6: 3.6: 3.6: 0 and became an unbelievable 14th place . times the winner of the largest clay court tournament in the world. He also extended the record in the all-time leaderboard to 22 major wins.
Paris. Nadal had already celebrated a sensational comeback at the Australian Open in Melbourne after an injury break of around six months and unexpectedly won his 21st major title there. His then again intensified Müller-Weiss syndrome (deformation of the metatarsal bone in the left foot) had caused Nadal so much pain before Paris that another title in Roland Garros seemed an impossibility. Which is why he even took his own doctor to the city on the Seine. But in Paris nothing seems impossible for Nadal.
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Unlike Melbourne’s entry and exit posse, Nadal hasn’t benefited from Novak Djokovic’s absence this time either. En route to triumph, the Spaniard knocked out the Serb and defending champion in four contested sets in the quarter-final hit and had previously downed another top ten player in five sets, Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN-9). In the semifinals it wasn’t him, but the third in the world rankings, Alexander Zverev (GER), who had to retire due to an injury. Ruud was the fourth top ten player in Nadal’s difficult draw.
Nadal will be rewarded with an additional €2.2 million for his efforts, increasing his career prize money to more than $130 million. But all that money no longer matters to Nadal, who has more than lived up to his reputation as perhaps the greatest fighter ever in sport.
Source: Nachrichten
