Rafael Nadal

Nadal extended his men's singles record of 22 Grand Slam titles with a win in straight sets over Casper Ruud.

His one genuine surge came at the start of the second set, when he broke Nadal’s serve again to take a 3-1 lead but at 30-30 in the next game, Ruud lined up an inside-out forehand and perhaps sensing that excellence was required, went for just too much and missed. Nadal was not at his best early and was at times far from his best: losing his serve in the third game with two double faults and an off-rhythm forehand unforced error into the middle of the net. That forced Nadal to take another extended break and miss most of the clay-court season before returning in Madrid last month. And there was Nadal, with his extreme topspin forehand and hard-wired combativeness. He certainly looked ready for more against Ruud, picking up speed and precision as the match progressed. That was before the final, and on Sunday afternoon after it was over in a hurry, Ruud made it clear in his runner-up speech his that he had not changed his mind. So many records. It just means a lot of energy to try to keep going.” “It means a lot to me, means everything. Carlos Alcaraz, a young Spaniard, seemed to be rising like a rocket. Nadal’s tone of late has been valedictory: he has repeatedly referred to the possibility that he could be playing his final French Open. But after slamming the door on Ruud on Sunday and then hugging him at the net, Nadal made it clear that this was not going to be the tennis equivalent of a walk-off grand slam. Novak Djokovic appeared to be regathering momentum.

Following his win over Casper Ruud on Court Philippe Chatrier, Rafael Nadal revealed his triumph at Roland Garros was one of the most emotional and ...

I would love to see him with a trophy in the future.” “For me, what drives me to keep going is not about the competition to try to be the best or to win more Grand Slams than the others. “That's, for me, that's the most important thing in the sport. He's going to be the fourth in the [Pepperstone ATP] Race [To Turin] now. “Because I have no feelings on my foot, because my doctor was able to put anesthetic injections on the nerves. “I have been playing with injections on the nerves to sleep the foot, and that's why I was able to play during these two weeks.

Rafael Nadal strengthened his lead in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Turin by capturing his 14th title at Roland Garros. The Spaniard is in pole position to ...

The man Nadal defeated in the Roland Garros final, Casper Ruud, surged four spots to fourth in the Race with 3,065 points. Alcaraz, the reigning Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion, strengthened his standing in second with 3,820 points as he tries to qualify for the first time. The lefty on Sunday extended his record number of major trophies to 21.

During a press conference, Serbian journalist Sasa Ozmo asked Novak Djokovic to compare each member of the Big 3, him, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, ...

In the quarterfinals he faceed his eternal rival Rafael Nadal, in what was the 59th chapter of their epic rivalry. I would be happy to go back to Australia to play the tournament in which I have achieved the most victories at the Grand Slam level. In any case, I would like to play the Australian Open. What happened is a thing of the past, I don't hold a grudge.

French Open champion Rafa Nadal will play at Wimbledon later this month if his body allows him to, the Spaniard said on Sunday after winning Roland Garros ...

If that does not work, then it's going to be another story. I am always a positive guy and always expect the things are going the right way. And then I am going to ask myself if I am ready to do a major thing without being sure that things are going the proper way, for example. If that works, I'm going to keep going. It can happen once but no it's not the philosophy of life I want to follow. If I'm able to play with anti-inflammatories yes," Nadal said.

There are three certainties in life - death, taxes and Rafael Nadal winning the French Open. The Spaniard secured a 14th title at Roland Garros with a ...

He has 92 career titles in total of which 63 have been on clay. He is the best athlete I have ever seen in any sport," another tennis legend, John McEnroe said in January when Nadal collected the Australian Open. "Never underestimate a great champion. Nadal has Wimbledon crowns in 2008 and 2010, an Australian Open title in 2009 and completed the career Grand Slam in 2010 by defeating Djokovic in the US Open final, becoming the youngest in the Open era to complete the four-event career sweep. I am not an arrogant person." "Life is never clear.

Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander, truly great clay-court (and hard-court) players, never won Wimbledon. On the flip side, Hall of Famers Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, ...

The emotion on his face made it clear that he still revels in every victory. What’s more, in a sport that has often lacked grace in its champions, Nadal is never anything but gracious in victory and defeat. But then Daniil Medvedev whipped him in the U.S. Open final, and his refusal to be vaccinated in the midst of the pandemic got him deported before the Australian Open. That’s the greatness of Nadal: You can get him down, but it is almost impossible to get him out. Nadal has now heard his anthem played on a French Open Sunday 14 times. On Sunday, Nadal won one for the 14th time — in Paris. His record in French Open finals is 14-0 after his crushing 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Casper Ruud. Ruud, 23, led 3-1 in the second set before Nadal took his game to another level, winning the final 11 games of the match. We have seen it for 17 years, and even though his matches sometimes seem to go on forever, it never gets old. He still hasn’t played, and as McEnroe noted on the NBC telecast Sunday, there’s a good chance we will never see him in a major championship again. He was 34, healthy and going for a calendar Grand Slam in New York. His two great rivals were older and injured. On Sunday, he got to 22 — and, apparently, at 36, is still counting. Nadal winning in Paris on the tournament’s final Sunday is as assured as summer rain in London. It is inevitable. Nadal, in any case, long ago proved he was far more than a clay-court specialist.

Rafael Nadal reached his 14th final at Roland Garros, a crazy number that testifies to the greatness of the Spaniard. The Manacor champion had arrived in ...

Speaking of injuries, Marca earlier reported that Nadal is likely to miss the Wimbledon due to his foot injury. "After the match against Djokovic, Rafa got up with a little pain, but he could move well," said the Spanish coach. Rafa will meet Casper Ruud on Sunday afternoon, with the hope of grabbing the 22nd Major of his career.

Nadal's victory came two days after his 36th birthday and made him the oldest title winner in the history of the clay-court tournament.

The two had never met in a real match until Sunday, when a championship, money, ranking points, prestige and a piece of history were on the line. He can now place this latest Coupe des Mousquetaires alongside the trophies he gathered at Roland Garros from 2005-08, 2010-14 and 2017-20. He considers Nadal his idol. The Spaniard's first triumph in Paris came in 2005 at age 19. He'd never even played in a major quarterfinal until now. Nadal also committed fewer unforced errors, making just 16 to Ruud's 26.

Tennis - Nadal is the third player with 115 matches at a single Major.

The German hurt his ankle ahead of the second set tie break and retired to propel the Spaniard into another Roland Garros final. Despite not playing at his best, Djokovic could have sent the clash into the fifth set, leading 5-2 in the fourth and creating two set points on serve in game nine. Playing well despite a foot injury, Rafa beat Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes to preserve energy for more difficult rivals.

RAFAEL NADAL's victory at the French Open has caused Mats Wilander and Chris Evert to change their view on the Spaniard.

Chris Evert, who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles in her career, did not expect Nadal to reach the number of victories that he has. Former seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander says the latest victory may mean more to Nadal than any other. But again, he’s so humble and so in the present moment that it sounds like he is going to keep going."

His stoicism in the face of hardships has made Nadal one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

In the finest tradition of Buddhists, ascetics, and Stoics, Nadal has recognised that pain and loss are inevitable and they must be accepted as an integral part of life and managed with equanimity and discipline. The defining theme of Nadal’s approach to life has been the need to embrace and enjoy suffering. He was never allowed to celebrate successes and was constantly reminded of how few aspiring tennis players actually make it to the top. Without his Uncle Toni’s tough-love tutelage the young Nadal may not have transformed into one of the most fearsome competitors in the history of all sport. One of Rafael’s uncles, Miguel Angel played football for FC Barcelona. The other uncle Antonio “Toni” was once a top amateur tennis player who competed in the Spanish national championships and became a coach at the Manacor Tennis Club. His father Sebastian was a successful and affluent businessman. But the doctrine of Rafael Nadal, the philosophy he has articulated and embodied, will live on.

Rafael Nadal made more history on Sunday when he won a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. Stars from the tennis world — including Rod ...

— Rennae Stubbs OLY (@rennaestubbs)— Rennae Stubbs OLY (@rennaestubbs) @RafaelNadalis truly the greatest competitor and champion i have ever seen. Congratulations on your 22nd Grand Slam, your 14th @rolandgarrostitle, without doubt a magic number in 2022. Congratulations on this historic feat,— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) @RafaelNadal. It's an honour being able to enjoy a great madridista and honorary club member as the best tennis player of all-time. It just goes to show that hard work, passion, and a “never give up” attitude really goes a long way. 🐐 🏆— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) https://t.co/7q7FpqEzL7 June 5, 2022 #RolandGarros https://t.co/Z68xcNiUt6 June 5, 2022

Should the new treatment, radiofrequency ablation to the nerve in his foot, not work then the Spaniard admits he will have to consider surgery, casting major ...

“Today I got to feel how it is to play against you in a final. “Hopefully it works and can take it out a little bit the pain that I have. “So that’s the thing that we are planning to do the next week. “That’s what we are going to try. But it’s obvious that I can’t keep competing with the foot asleep. That’s why I was able to play during these two weeks, because I have no feeling in my foot.

Rafael Nadal won a 14th French Open and record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title on Sunday with a straight-sets rout of Casper Ruud.

However, Nadal roared back with a double break for 4-3. Nadal sealed the win with a backhand down the line, his 37th winner of the final. 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.

During his career, Rafael Nadal has done the impossible, winning 21 Grand Slams (none like him) including 13 Roland Garros, rewriting entire pages of tennis ...

"I stayed in the match as best I could, but it's true that I was in a better position at the end of the set. I have suffered with the humidity, but I think he does too. I had more energy that for a while, it was gone." I have a life ahead of me and I would like to play amateur sports with my friends and right now this is unknown. "It is such a rare degenerative pathology that even in the scientific literature many publications are case reports or case histories of a few patients. The last foot injury was due to Müller-Weiss syndrome: a particular disease that could end his career.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC was jeered by the fans in attendance during his four-set loss at the hands of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

Djokovic was booed once again during the fourth set as he slammed his racket into the net in a fit of rage after failing to return a fiercely-struck forehand that looked destined to be a winner. Meanwhile, Djokovic will be hoping to bounce back from his French Open quarter-final defeat by claiming the top prize at Wimbledon over the course of this year's event, which is set to get underway later this month. Tennis fans appear to be largely divided over whether Novak Djokovic deserved to be booed during his recent French Open quarter-final loss at the hands of Rafael Nadal, although a slim majority believe that his frosty reception at Roland Garros was not entirely warranted.

Rafael Nadal's dominance on clay courts is to be expected. When he enters Roland Garros, his path to the title is Jordanesque, Gretzky-like, Ruthian, ...

His career earnings of $500 million are only half of Roger Federer’s because clay courts are considered the secondary surface on the ATP Tour. Nadal is a superstar on hard courts, but he’s a supernova on clay. Despite his weakened condition, Nadal sounded confident about competing at Wimbledon. Nadal remains the only male player to win three consecutive Grand Slams in a calendar year. He withdrew from the 2021 U.S. Open to rehab and the foot continuously bothered him throughout the French Open. During his French tune-up, Nadal himself was limping through an early round defeat at the Italian Open a month ago. He would also become the second-oldest male Grand Slam Champion in history. Nadal hinted at retirement before the French Open due to the pain caused by his foot and prior to the Final, Nadal told the media that he’d “prefer to lose Sunday’s final” in exchange for a new foot. Nadal’s 22nd Grand Slam gives him two more than his contemporary rivals as the most prolific men’s slam champions in the Open Era.

For one athlete to have so much success at a single event is wholly unprecedented, while Nadal has also set himself apart from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic ...

"The only thing I can say is going through all these challenges, I always hold the passion to keep going and I always hold the love for the game," he added. "I never had in my mind (plans) to announce any retirement after this event, but of course, there is a possibility that things are not improving," he said. Even if he does not add to his grand slam tally, it will be impossible to ever question Nadal's status as one of the greatest to play the game. "After the pandemic, something happened in my foot. I think my happiness will not change at all, not even one percent." I am sure that's going to happen; 14 Roland Garros is something ... very difficult."

Spaniard's 14th French Open title created a clear buffer between him and his rivals – and he is halfway to a calendar grand slam.

Even Nadal has a limit to the pain that he is willing to put himself through in pursuit of success and he is therefore not prepared to block the nerves in his foot again in order to numb the pain. The foundation of Nadal’s success for so long has been his attitude; his acceptance of each circumstance, the optimism and composure with which he tackles adversity and the perspective he has maintained under pressure. Instead, Nadal has now created a clear buffer between himself and his rivals, and he is halfway to the single-season grand slam. The outcome of that match and everything that followed, with Nadal rising to win his 14th French Open title and 22nd grand slam, further underlines what he has shown for long. Despite the joy that Nadal is playing with, enjoying an unexpected “golden” moment so deep into his career, it is simultaneously filled with uncertainty. In the buildup to Rafael Nadal’s French Open quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic last Tuesday, some doubt surrounded Nadal ahead of his greatest challenge.

RAFAEL NADAL could miss out on Wimbledon this year after winning the French Open - but Toni Nadal does not fear for his tennis future.

It shows that he is the best driver there is.” But the reality is that he continues and tries again. That is the sporting greatness of my nephew. I remember after a loss in Monte Carlo in 2020, he told me he was not playing at Roland Garros. He told me he was tired of the pain. You know you're at a great level and you want to keep fighting. If the radio frequency ablation treatment fails, he could be faced with career-threatening surgery.

Rafael Nadal made more history on Sunday when he claimed a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. ATPTour.com looks at five fast facts ...

- The 36-year-old has now earned at least one clay-court title in 19 consecutive years. Nadal broke the mark previously set by Andres Gimeno, who was 34 years, 10 months when he was victorious in 1972. - Nadal’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory against Casper Ruud was tied for his second-most lopsided win in a major final.

A multiple winner on all surfaces, the Spaniard has put Federer and Djokovic in the shade.

What’s more, in a sport that has often lacked grace in its champions, Nadal is never anything but gracious in victory and defeat. That’s the greatness of Nadal: You can get him down, but it is almost impossible to get him out. On Sunday, Nadal won one for the 14th time — in Paris. His record in French Open finals is now 14-0 after his crushing 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Casper Ruud. Ruud, who is 23, actually led 3-1 in the second set before Nadal simply took his game to another level, winning the final 11 games of the match. But then Daniil Medvedev whipped him in the US Open final and his refusal to be vaccinated in the midst of the pandemic got him deported from Australia before the Australian Open. He was 34, healthy and going for a calendar Grand Slam in New York. His two great rivals were older and injured. Federer turned 40 in August and had lost in the Wimbledon quarter finals to Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets — including 6-0 in the third. His game is to hare down the court and return every shot with a blistering forehand or a crunching double-fisted backhand. A Nadal match is never over until the last point is played. At 36, Nadal is the oldest French Open champion, and he seems capable of winning many more, although his incredible athleticism has waned. But then, that’s a recurring theme in the last two years. Winner of 14 French Opens, Nadal has also won four US Opens, two Australian Opens and two Wimbledons. That makes him a complete player, having won on clay, grass and hard courts: a feat that eluded some of the best players in history, including Bjorn Borg of Sweden and Pete Sampras of the United States. Is Rafael Nadal the greatest of all time (GOAT)? He’s got the numbers.

Nadal now owns a record 22 Grand Slams and a record 14 French Open titles. “It's beyond belief," McEnroe told Eurosport before the match. "It took a player - [ ...

Nadal now owns a record 22 Grand Slams and a record 14 French Open titles. "This will never, ever, ever happen again in our sport, that one male - or female - will win as many of these events, so enjoy it while we can. On Sunday, Nadal delivered a mastersclass performance as he ousted Casper Ruud in the French Open final 6-3 6-3 6-0.