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Rafael Nadal won the Roland-Garros final on Sunday against Casper Ruud in three sets (6-3, 6-3, 6-0). The Spaniard is consecrated as the undisputed king of the French Open.
14 Roland-Garros finals, 14 final wins. Rafael Nadal continued to write the legend of the French Open on Sunday, June 5.
Against Casper Ruud, it only took him three sets to lift the Musketeers Cup once more (6-3, 6-3, 6-0). It is also his 22nd victory at a Grand Slam, an absolute record. He is now two steps ahead of his two historical rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (20 each).
For his first Grand Slam final, Casper Ruud was nervous. Normal when you face one of his idols, whom the Norwegian had seen from the stands at his eighth coronation.
Since then, Rafael Nadal has played in an additional five finals on Court Philippe-Chatrier, all of them won. He shares his experience and takes advantage of it, winning the first game very quickly, in just over four minutes. The king of clay takes the break in stride.
However, the Norwegian is not in the final to make up for the numbers. He quickly finds the marks on him and breaks into the next game. But, while Casper Ruud offers himself two draws, Rafael Nadal does not admit defeat. He erases them one by one before taking his rival’s service game (3-1).
One game, then two, then three…
From behind, the ‘Toro de Manacor’ unwinds and wins the set (6-3), although little by little Casper Ruud becomes more threatening, multiplying the climbs to the net.
“I’ll do my best… like the other thirteen did before me,” promised Casper Ruud before the match.
The eighth in the world keeps its promise and is more enterprising in the second round. Casper Ruud is on a par with Rafael Nadal and intends to spoil the match with the break in the fourth game, but King Nadal refuses to let this crime of lese majesty go by. He prevents the Norwegian from confirming his lead and then inflicts white play on him to equalise. The rest of the set was a health walk for the Spaniard (6-3).
Nadal assures that he will continue “fighting” against rumors of his retirement
The last round is a formality. Rafael Nadal has the luxury of inflicting a humiliating “bubble” on his opponent. After the long battles against Félix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 16 and Novak Djokovic in the quarters, and the three-hour match against Alexander Zverev, Rafael Nadal returned to machine mode for the last step.
On the trophy delivery podium, he silenced the rumors that were sending him into retirement after this last fight: “I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I will continue fighting,” he promised.
Before the final, he said that he was “probably” ready to exchange this new Cup for a new left foot. Seeing him use his current foot in this final and win a 22nd Grand Slam, many believe he could still win with it for a long time to come.
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