In this Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020 image provided by the French Tennis Federation FFT, Spain's Rafael Nadal poses with the trophy in the locker room after winning the final match of the French Open tennis tournament against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France.Julien Crosnier/The Associated Press
All the years of work, all the many wins, led to this moment, with Rafael Nadal preparing to serve against Novak Djokovic, one point from a 13th French Open championship, one point from a 20th Grand Slam trophy to tie Roger Federer’s record for men.
Nadal swept his right foot along the baseline, clearing away the red dust as he has so many times before. He rapped his shoes' soles with his racquet – right, then left, then right again. He discarded one tennis ball behind him, another in the pocket of his blue shorts.
And then, finally ready to proceed, Nadal delivered an ace at 106 miles an hour to cap a flawless performance and a surprisingly lopsided 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory over the No. 1-ranked Djokovic. Nadal dropped to his knees, smiling broadly, and pumped his arms.
Neither Djokovic, on this day, nor Federer, over the course of time, ever truly stood a chance of resisting the relentless Nadal.
“He keeps going. No holding him back, it seems like. It’s amazing. I mean, I admire all his achievements, especially the one here,” said Djokovic, who had won his past five Grand Slam finals.
“There’s not much you can say,” Djokovic said. “All the superlatives that you can use, he deserves them.”
It’s the fourth time the No. 2-ranked Nadal won his favourite tournament without ceding a set and made his career mark at the French Open 100-2.
No, that is not a typo.
The 34-year-old left-hander from Spain has won his favourite event four straight times, following previous streaks of four from 2005-08, then five from 2010-14. Those go alongside four triumphs at the U.S. Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open.
Federer, 39, sat out the U.S. Open and French Open after two knee operations. He posted a congratulatory message on Instagram on Sunday.
“As my greatest rival over many years, I believe we have pushed each other to become better players,” Federer wrote, and ended with: “I hope 20 is just another step on the continuing journey for both of us. Well done, Rafa. You deserve it.”
Djokovic’s loss, meanwhile, left him at 17 majors; had he won, the standings would have read 20-19-18.
No other man has more than 14.
This was the 56th installment of Nadal vs. Djokovic, the most between men in the professional era. Djokovic is ahead 29-27 now, including his 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win at the 2019 Australian Open final.
“In Australia, he killed me. … Today was for me,” Nadal said.
The key statistic Sunday: Nadal limited himself to 14 unforced errors, impressive against anyone, but especially someone the calibre of Djokovic, who accumulated 52.
“He’s phenomenal,” Djokovic said. “He played a perfect match, especially in the first two sets.”
The first set was a 45-minute master class conducted by Nadal, who came out incredibly crisply and cleanly, steering his high-rpm forehands precisely where he wanted them and using his defence-to-offence abilities to slide and stretch and flick balls back with aggression.
“I played at my highest level when I needed to play at my highest level,” Nadal said.
The much-anticipated matchup between these two titans of their sport was the first indoor French Open men’s final, contested under Court Philippe Chatrier’s new cover. From its stand in the VIP section, the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy glistened under the artificial lights.
This also was the first French Open contested with players walking on court wearing masks on account of the coronavirus pandemic, also the reason the tournament shifted from May-June to September-October and crowds were limited to 1,000 a day. On Sunday, those lucky enough to attend mainly were concentrated in not very physically distanced clumps in the first 20 or so rows.
“Of course, [it’s] an important day for me,” Nadal said afterward, “but I’m not stupid, no? Is still a very sad situation worldwide.”
The seasonal change led to colder, wetter weather than usual, which changes the way the clay affects shots, making them bounce lower and slower. Some, including Nadal, wondered aloud whether that would hinder him, as could the tournament’s change to a slightly heavier ball.
He figured, he said, “this year will probably be too difficult.”
So much for that.
He dealt with Djokovic’s predilection for drop shots much better than previous foes of the 33-year-old Serb, using anticipation and speed to dim that strategy’s success.
“Didn’t work great today, let’s say,” Djokovic admitted.
Nadal took five of Djokovic’s first six service games and broke seven times in all.
Nadal faced only five break points himself, saving four.
More than two hours in, when Djokovic employed a backhand winner to get his lone break, making it three-all in the third set, he let out a couple of roars and waved his arms to ask for more noise from fans.
Too little, too late. Less than a half-hour later, it was over.
“Rafa has proven everybody wrong,” Djokovic said. “That’s why he’s a great champion.”