The man they call “Rafa” won his record seventh French Open title on June 11, returning a day after getting rained out to put the finishing touches on a 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic, and deny Djokovic in his own quest for history the “Novak Slam.”
The match ended on a Djokovic double-fault, a fittingly awkward ending to a match that had plenty of stops and starts, including a brief delay during the fourth set Monday while what else? a rain shower passed over the stadium.
They waited it out and Nadal finished where he has for seven of the past eight years- Down on the ground, celebrating a title at a place that feels like home. He broke the record he shared with Bjorn Borg and improved to 52-1 at the French Open.
After serving his fourth double fault of the match, Djokovic dropped his head and slumped his shoulders, an emotional two-day adventure complete, and not with the result he wanted.
Nadal won his 11th overall Grand Slam title, tying him with Borg and Rod Laver on the all-time list.
Djokovic failed in his quest to become the first winner of four straight major titles in 43 years.
I never fell in love with Nadal's game the way I fell in love with Borg's game. I blame it on American TV coverage, which is dull to no end and often time doen't even cover resumption of games after they are interrupted because of weather. I watched Borg's career on foreign TV. It's another matter all together.
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