Rafael Nadal captured an unprecedented 8th Roland Garros title to make him the first player in the history of tennis to secure eight titles at the same grand slam.
I did not foresee this remarkable achievement happening at the beginning of the tournament which is evident in my preview I wrote at the start of the event. In fact, it was not until the pulsating semi-final with Novak Djokovic that I finally thought, hang on, Rafa wants this more than ever. This was a match that you just couldn't predict and the outcome, although heroic, could have easily gone either way. But Djokovic just couldn't finish off the Spanish machine and the Serb has to now wait another year to capture that elusive French title and join the all-time greats in the Career Grand Slam group. Judging by his performance however, it won't be long until Djokovic does claim this title, with 2014 looking likely than ever. But for now, Rafa can now look ahead to this years Wimbledon full of optimism, and should definitely be considered favorite heading into the event. This years French Open created many career defining stories that will live long in the memory of not only the players, but also tennis fans alike.
The most remarkable and by no means unexpected memory will be David Ferrer reaching his first grand slam final. I had already predicted this going into the tournament, but the way he reached the final was highly impressive, without dropping a set and also destroying Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semis, it was a journey the 31 year-old fully deserved. However it was inevitable that he would succumb to Nadal and Ferrer's greatest achievement may well be reaching this final, as winning a French title with Rafa and Novak in the equation is quite possibly an impossible task. Another comeback to savior was that of Gael Monfils, the Frenchman coming back from a knee injury was given a wildcard in the tournament and his determination and grit took out the No.6 seed Tomas Berdych in the first round in what many consider the match of the French Open. High quality tennis and highly competitive, Monfils made a brilliant start to the tournament. He further knocked out Ernest Gulbis in the second round before succumbing to Tommy Robredo in the third having been two sets to love up. This then began the amazing story of Tommy Robredo who had also come back from injury. The aging Spaniard looked down and out in three consecutive matches in the French Open before coming back against Igor Sijsling, Gael Monfils and Nicolas Almagro after having lost the opening two sets. This made him the first player in the history of the game to win three consecutive matches having lost the first two sets, a quite remarkable achievement. But fatigue finally prevailed as David Ferrer duly showed him no way into his quarter-final match with a straight sets win. But for me, it was these stories that really opened up this years French to make it one of the best Roland Garros tournaments in a long long time. Other mentions has to go to the marathon match between Wawrinka and Gasquet, which in the end Wawrinka won and also the longest match of the tournament between Tommy Haas and John Isner. This five setter really showed the fitness of the 35 year-old German and it's incredible to see how he is still competing against the top players. To be fair he almost took a set off Novak Djokovic in the quarters and if we are able to witness Federer on the circuit at Tommy's age then we are in for a treat.
Quite honestly I could write so much more on a great tournament, in fact the final was a slight let-down just because we all witnessed such a great semi between Nadal and Djokovic. I never felt the final was competitive and you could see that Ferrer was playing his best tennis but there was just nothing he could do to beat Nadal. Ferrer was agressive in nearly every point he played and even changed his style at times by coming to the net but it was all to no avail. The question now remains whether Nadal can win more French titles? The answer is yes. Can he win Wimbledon for the third time? The answer is yes. I will look into the reasons why and how in the Wimbledon preview, so until then enjoy the beginning of the grass court season.
- On a side note, the women's game. I'm a huge fan but just never get round to writing on it. Quick thoughts. Serena played a blinder of a tournament and was always going to be the favorite. I think we are now seeing four players who could be sharing the grand slam titles during the next few years. Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Agnieska Radwanska. -
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