Rafael Nadal won a 14th French Open and record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title yesterday with a straight-sets rout of Casper Ruud to become the oldest male champion at Roland Garros and he vowed to “keep fighting”.
In a disappointing final, 36-year-old Nadal won 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 with victory coming 17 years to the day since he claimed his first French Open as a 19-year-old in 2005.
Nadal won the last 11 games of the final and is now two Slams ahead of old rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer with yesterday’s victory coming against all the odds.
Nadal, the oldest winner in Paris since a 34-year-old Andre Gimeno in 1972, had not been certain of taking part after a chronic left foot injury, which has plagued him throughout his career, flared up again.
He also needed the best part of a gruelling 12 hours to see off Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in the previous three rounds.
“I don’t know what I would do in terms of injuries if it wasn’t for the team, my family and everyone around me,” said Nadal.
“I would’ve already retired much before if it wasn’t for you.
“I never believed, that I’d be here at 36, being competitive again. Being here, means a lot to me on the most important court in my career. It helps me to keep going.
“For me, it’s incredible to play here. It’s an incredible feeling. I don’t know what can happen in the future, but I’m going to keep fighting to try to keep going.”
His two-hour 18-minute win yesterday took his record at the tournament to 112 wins against just three losses and also put him halfway to a rare calendar men’s Grand Slam last achieved by Rod Laver in 1969.
“The most important thing is to congratulate Rafa,” said Ruud.

‘True champion’
“You are a true champion. This is the first time I have faced you so now I know what it’s like to be the victim! There will be many others.
“You have taken me into your academy with open arms and you are a true inspiration to me. We all hope you continue for some more time.”
Nadal, unbeaten in 13 previous finals in Paris and playing in his 30th Grand Slam decider, got off to a flying start against Ruud, the first Norwegian man to feature in a championship match at the majors.
He broke for 2-0 and even though he handed the break straight back courtesy of a two uncharacteristic double faults, he was quickly back in front again for 3-1.
The Spaniard wrapped up the opener in 49 minutes against his 23-year-old opponent who has trained at his academy in Manacor since 2018.
World number eight Ruud, the in-form player on clay since the start of 2020 with 66 wins on the surface, was under siege again in the second set, having to fight off three break points in the opening game. There was a sudden glimmer of hope when he broke for 3-1 with Nadal again coughing up a double fault. However, Nadal roared back with a double break for 4-3.
Ruud saved three set points in the ninth game but his first double fault of the final handed Nadal a two-set lead.
Nadal had said on the eve of the final that he would rather lose yesterday’s match in exchange for a new foot. However, without needing to hit top gear, he was in complete control against Ruud, racing away to the title with three breaks in a third set which was over in 30 minutes. Nadal sealed the win with a backhand down the line, his 37th winner of the final.


Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Norway’s Casper Ruud pose with trophies after the men’s singles final. (Reuters)

I will play at Wimbledon if my body allows me to, says Nadal
Paris: French Open champion Rafa Nadal will play at Wimbledon later this month if his body allows him to, the Spaniard said yesterday after winning Roland Garros for a record-extending 14th time.
“I am going to be in Wimbledon if my body is ready to be in Wimbledon. Wimbledon is not a tournament that I want to miss,” said Nadal, who has been suffering from a chronic foot injury.
Nadal, a double Wimbledon champion, destroyed Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-3 6-3 6-0 to stay undefeated in Roland Garros finals.
The 36-year-old, who has won the season’s first two majors, now owns a men’s record 22 Grand Slam singles titles – two more than nearest rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Wimbledon starts on June 27.
Nadal explained that he had played yesterday’s final with a numbed foot thanks to a series of injections throughout the tournament, but that he would not go through a similar procedure again for the grasscourt Grand Slam.
“Wimbledon is a priority, always has been a priority. If I’m able to play with anti-inflammatories yes,” Nadal said. “To play with anaesthetic injections, I do not want to put myself in that position again. It can happen once but no it’s not the philosophy of life I want to follow. Let’s see. I am always a positive guy and always expect the things are going the right way. Let’s be confident, let’s be positive and let’s see what’s going on.”
At the final in January’s Australian Open, Nadal, who turned 36 on Friday, came from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev and bag a second title there. A couple of months earlier he was even considering retiring after a foot problem that has troubled him throughout his career resurfaced, forcing him to miss much of the 2021 season including Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open.
Giving details on what comes next for him, he said: “It’s going to be a radio frequency injection on the nerve and trying to burn a little bit the nerve and create the impact that I have now on the nerve for a long period of time. That’s what we are going to try. If that works, I’m going to keep going. If that does not work, then it’s going to be another story.
“A major surgery that doesn’t guarantee me to be able to be competitive again and take a long time to be back (is a risk). So let’s do it step by step, as I did all my tennis career.”
(AFP)

Rafa’s title wins at Roland Garros since 2005
2005: bt Mariano Puerta (ARG) 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 — At just 19, Nadal became the youngest winner of a Grand Slam title since Michael Chang won at Roland Garros in 1989 at 17. He was the first man since Mats Wilander in 1982 to win the French Open on his debut. Puerta was to later fail a drugs test and handed an eight-year ban, eventually reduced to two years.
2006: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 — Nadal became the first man to beat Federer in a Slam final, ending the Swiss star’s hopes of holding all four majors at the same time. It was Nadal’s 60th win in a row on clay.
2007: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 — The 21-year-old Nadal became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win three successive titles at Roland Garros. He again also shattered Federer’s hopes of becoming only the third man in history to hold all four majors.
2008: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 — Nadal condemned his great rival to his worst ever loss in a Grand Slam event. The Spaniard also won the title without losing a set, becoming the third man to do so in the Open era after Ilie Nastase and Borg.
2010: bt Robin Soderling (SWE) 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 — Nadal avenged his defeat to the Swede at Roland Garros 12 months earlier. Again, Nadal finished the tournament without having dropped a set. He also regained the world number one ranking for the first time since July 2009.
2011: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1 — Nadal claimed his sixth French Open to equal the record of Borg, also taking his Slam total into double figures at 10. Federer had ended Novak Djokovic’s 43-match undefeated run in the semi-finals.
2012: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 — Nadal goes past Borg’s record of six titles and ends Djokovic’s bid to be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors. Rain meant that the final was completed on Monday which was tough on Djokovic who was a break up in the fourth set when the match was halted for the night.
2013: bt David Ferrer (ESP) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 — Nadal comfortably beats his compatriot for an eighth French Open but the hard yards were achieved in the semi-finals when he defeated Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 9-7 in a 4-hour 37-minute epic.
2014: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 — Title number nine in his ninth final for Nadal and his 14th Grand Slam success on an afternoon where temperatures nudged 30 degrees. It was his 45th career clay-court title.
2017: bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 — Nadal coasts to a record 10th French Open title, demolishing Wawrinka in a brutally one-sided final which also earns the Spaniard a 15th Grand Slam crown. Nadal, 31, becomes the first man in history to win the same major 10 times. It is his most one-sided final win since allowing Federer just four games in the 2008 final.
2018: bt Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 — Nadal moves to 17 Grand Slam titles with a straightforward victory over Austrian Thiem. Nadal endured a nervy conclusion to the final, however, when he needed treatment in the third set for a finger injury.
2019: bt Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 — Nadal overcomes dropping the second set by racing to victory over Thiem for the second successive year. The 33-year-old, seemingly angered by losing a set in the final for the first time since 2014, crushes the Austrian in the third and fourth sets to make it 12 titles and take his win-loss record at Roland Garros to a staggering 93-2. “I can’t explain what I’ve achieved and how I feel. It’s a dream,” said Nadal. “It’s an incredible moment and very special for me.”
2020: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 — In a final played in front of a smattering of fans in a tournament delayed by four months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Nadal demolishes Djokovic to win his 13th French Open and equal the all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles held by Roger Federer who hailed the victory as “one of sport’s greatest achievements”.
2022: bt Casper Ruud (NOR) 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 — Nadal arrived at Roland Garros hampered by a left foot injury, despite having won his second Australian Open title earlier that year.
He had to come through tough matches against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, but thrashed Norwegian Ruud in a one-sided final to become the oldest male Roland Garros champion.
Nadal, 36, claimed his 112th match win at Roland Garros against just three defeats since his 2005 debut.