Rafael Nadal wins his 14th French Open title originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Rafael Nadal is once again Roland-Garros champion.
The 36-year-old Spaniard, who now has 22 men’s Grand Slam singles titles to his name, picked up his 14th victory at Roland Garros after beating Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in Sunday’s men’s singles final.
It was clear that Nadal was a veteran of the French Open court, as his confidence sank from the second he stepped onto clay against 23-year-old Ruud, who was seeking his first Grand Slam title.
The first set started as expected with Nadal rushing in with a fast start. Nadal won the first point in a short rally, but Ruud came back into the game when a forehand hit the net. After the back and forth for the first points, it was just a climb for Ruud from there. Nadal had two successive breaks and eventually two more, contributing to his first 6-3 win.
The second set was a bit more of a battle, with Ruud motivated to redeem himself. The set started in favor of the Norwegian tennis star and continued to stay that way until Nadal regained his energy. Just as Ruud was starting to appear, three quick errors in a row gave Nadal one hell of a break, eventually starting a trend for Nadal. The Spaniard won three games in a row before Ruud again tried to redeem himself. But the second set ended like the first, with another 6-3 victory for Nadal.
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One set away from winning his 14th French Open, Nadal struggled. He won all six games in a row, which ended up being 11 straight wins for the Spanish star.
Nadal’s performance at Roland Garros, which hosts the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world, proved once again that he is the “King of Clay”.
