Rafael Nadal pushed the limits again by winning a fourteenth title at Roland-Garros and a record 22nd Grand Slam trophy at the expense of the Norwegian Casper Ruud (N.8), swept 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 on Sunday.
The Spaniard (N.5), 36 years old since Friday, yet hampered by pain in his left foot, has become the oldest winner in history on Parisian clay. In the race for the record of major crowns, he is now two steps ahead of his two historic rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (twenty each).
His stranglehold on the Parisian Grand Slam is unparalleled. On their favorite playground, Djokovic, at the Australian Open, and Federer, at Wimbledon, won “only” nine and eight times respectively.
Porte d’Auteuil, in the history of men’s tennis, no one other than Nadal has won more than six times (Björn Borg).
Once again – the last? – the Mallorcan left-hander proved to be stronger than pain, stronger than doubts, he who had arrived in Paris with uncertainties, after leaving Rome in mid-May limping and grimacing in pain because of his left foot, gnawed for more than fifteen years by Müller-Weiss syndrome, a necrosis of the scaphoid bone.
After a quiet first game of the tournament, Nadal emerged victorious from a grueling second week. Before the final against Ruud, he fought more than four hours against Félix-Auger Aliassime (N.9) in the round of 16 and Djokovic in the quarterfinals, then sweated profusely for more than three hours in the heat of the Central against Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, before the abandonment of the world No.3, twisted right ankle.
Uncertain future
Sunday afternoon against Ruud, under a heavy sky, but with the roof open, the master of the place made the best start by breaking from the start and pocketing the first set in around forty minutes, even without deploying his best Game.
His domination only increased as the weather cleared, and the sun warmed the Parisian ocher and thus favored his devastating forehand lift.
In the second set, the 23-year-old Norwegian took a good lead 3 games to 1, but his lead was gone in a few minutes. Nadal inflicted on him from there a scathing 10-0, until winning in 2:18, seventeen years to the day after his first coronation in 2005.
Despite the defeat, Casper Ruud, dominated in the Roland-Garros final by Rafael Nadal on Sunday, will remember this match “for the rest of (s) his career”, he delivered in a press conference: “One day , I will be able to tell my grandchildren that I played against “Rafa” on the Chatrier in the final”.
And now ? Nadal has sown, during his press conferences in the Paris fortnight, doubt about his future.
Rafael Nadal admitted on Sunday after his 14th Roland-Garros title that he could not continue playing with the pain he has in his foot and that he had no intention of trying to do so if no permanent solution is not found.
“As I have already said, in the current circumstances, I cannot and I do not want to continue playing”, declared the Spanish champion during a press conference, explaining that he suffered during Roland-Garros ” several injections before each game” to numb his aching nerves.
While waiting for him to reveal more, his record in the final on clay in Paris is still impeccable: fourteen won, none lost. And he has still only lost three matches at Roland-Garros, for 112 won in 115 played.