French Open 2014 Review

As the light began to fade around the terracotta jewel that is Roland Garros, one thing remained the same, Rafa Nadal was French Open Champion for the ninth time!

The result was never really in doubt, but this year was different. Rafa had arrived in Paris on the back of a rather disappointing clay-court season and the attention had been diverted to that of the Serb, Novak Djokovic. Could it be that the tennis world were destined to witness only the seventh man to win all four majors in their career? Would Nadal's reign over the French title finally be stopped? These were the type of questions many tennis journalists, pundits and even myself were pondering over the course of the two weeks and right up to the final itself. But Nadal quashed any remaining doubts over his "King of Clay" status by defeating Djokovic in the final and thereby claiming his 14th grand slam title, equalling Pete Sampras' haul in the process.

It was by no means a classic match, in fact, compared to last year's epic semi-final tussle between the pair, this final was rather disappointing. Having won the first set, the momentum seemed to be fully behind Novak, and at that point I would assume many tennis journalists must have been thinking that their predictions were going to become a reality. But suddenly Djokovic's game deserted him and Nadal - as you would expect - took full advantage. From that point on, it seemed that the fuel that had been running Novak throughout the tournament was finally running low, and although Nadal was showing similar signs of fatigue, he just managed to find that extra gear that Novak so badly needed. In the end the Spaniard came through 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 and set a new record along the way by winning the title a fifth time in a row, overtaking Bjorn Borgs record of four in succession.

Nadal's achievement at Roland Garros is incredible and it has to be acknowledged as one of the greatest dominance's in not only tennis history, but sporting history. His nine titles at a single slam are top of the record books and only Roger Federer has a chance to eclipse that with seven Wimbledon titles, although anymore for the Swiss looks unlikely. In fact, Roger must be a little worried; his current record of 17 grand slam titles doesn't look safe. Nadal is only three slam titles behind and with at least another two French Open's highly achievable, it does seem that Nadal will likely equal Federer's haul, and injury permitting will probably overtake it. It's always a major talking point in the tennis world when it comes to the greatest of all time, but with these sort of statistics, it's easy to see why Nadal would be amongst the top on many people's minds.

Djokovic on the other hand will now be pondering how to win a slam again. His last slam win came at the 2013 Australian Open, since then he has lost in three consecutive grand slam finals that he has played in, Wimbledon and the US Open (both 2013) and now the French. The appointment of six-time slam winner Boris Becker before the end of last year was supposed to help him win more slams, giving guidance particularly in how to win in the killer moments of a match. But with all that belief devoid in Novak's game, Becker's duties with the Serbian may be cut prematurely, which could come just in time for the German's commentating commitment with the BBC during Wimbledon. Novak really wanted this slam more than anything else, the hunger was there to see when the tears were flowing during the losing speech and it is evident that Novak will have his day on the Paris clay, but whether he can stop Nadal claiming the "La Decima" (tenth) next year is, well, nigh impossible. Djokovic needs to win another slam, to re-gain that confidence that he can win these tournaments, that he can re-establish himself as the world No.1, because it may be the only way he can conquer the one "demon slam" that eludes him. Wimbledon is a fantastic opportunity for Novak to win a seventh slam, he loves the grass, has a decent record on it with 38 wins to eight loses and he's won it before.

But Novak won't be the only player disappointed at the culmination of this year's tournament. Beaten semi-finalists Ernests Gulbis and Andy Murray would have both felt that a final berth at Roland Garros was within reach. Gulbis managed to take a set off Djokovic, but his combustion in the fourth set was a shame considering that at stages during the match an upset was definitely on the cards. However Gulbis will largely be proud of his performance, at 25 years-old he has finally announced himself on the biggest stage - even though it has took many years to accomplish - with wins over Federer and Berdych respectively during the tournament, Gulbis will fancy causing a few surprises for the rest of the season. Murray on the other-hand was completely blown away by Nadal in three straight easy sets, in some instances even making the Scot look amateurish. But nevertheless, Andy has truly overcome his back problems that plagued him during the latter stages of last year. He had two gruelling matches against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gael Monfils that went the distance and although he probably had nothing left in the tank against Nadal, he must be feeling confident heading into Wimbledon. Meanwhile Roger Federer is left to rue the missed opportunities he had against Gulbis in the fourth round encounter, on paper this should have been a Swiss win, but nowadays Rogers ranking doesn't hide the fact that he looks vulnerable against many of the world's top 20 players. His ability to not win key points of big matches has hindered the 17 time slam champion too many times recently and it's this reason why an 18th slam looks highly unlikely.

The Parisian crowd will have been disappointed this year with the French contingent. Not since Yannick Noah's victory in 1983 has a French player won the Musketeer's trophy. Gael Monfils made the biggest impact though, almost ousting Andy Murray in the quarter-finals having come from two sets down. But the vibrant Frenchman capitulated in the final set, with a demoralising "bagel" that wasn't a true reflection of the match. But it was even worse for compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who was completely annihilated by Novak Djokovic in the fourth round, a match that really should have been a lot closer. It's not the first and won't be the last time that Tsonga fails to live up to the match billing.

However, there is one thing that the Parisian crowd would have expected and that is Rafa Nadal reigning supreme once again. Perhaps there wasn't ever any doubt in the minds of the French tennis lovers that Nadal was going to be de-throned on Court Philippe Chatrier, and for the foreseeable future it seems that nothing is going to change. To sum up just how important this tournament is to Rafa, I'll leave you with these sentiments he made after his victory. "The other things, sure, are important, we will see when we finish my career how many Grand Slams I have or if I win four, three, or five in a row. But always for me is the same. The most important thing is win Roland Garros. That's the most important thing.”