Rafael Nadal still reigns at Roland Garros after getting past David Ferrer in straight sets on Sunday. Nadal wins his eighth French Open title in as many final appearances and he now owns 12 Grand Slam titles.
Despite a recent seven-month layoff and a huge semifinal test from the No. 1 player in the world, Rafael Nadal is still the King of Clay.
Less than 48 hours after outlasting Novak Djokovic in a classic five-setter, Nadal beat David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the French Open title match on Sunday afternoon. The Spaniard needed two hours and 16 minutes to triumph at Roland Garros for the eighth time in his career.
Whereas Nadal had dropped four sets prior to the last hurdle, Ferrer had emerged into his first Grand Slam final entirely unscathed. The world No. 5, however, ran into a whole different beast in this one–as he already knew thanks to a 4-19 lifetime record against his countryman. Ferrer did well to battle back from an early break down in the first set, but he never really recovered after dropping serve again at 3-3. Nadal saved one break point at 4-3 then earned another scalp of his opponent’s serve to take the first set in style.
An even more dominant second frame of play saw Nadal lead from wire to wire after breaking again for 2-0. The middle set was marred by a flare-wielding intruder who interrupted play with the No. 3 seed serving at 5-1. A rattled Nadal got broken while attempting to serve it out, but the incident also seemed to distract the underdog. Ferrer promptly donated serve at love, double-faulting twice and spraying two forehand errors.
Ferrer had his one real chance in the the third. The fourth-seeded Spaniard broke back right away after trailing 2-0 and he also got a look at another break chance at 3-3. Nonetheless, Ferrer missed a routine return and with that his comeback bid all but ended. Nadal held then broke for 5-3 when Ferrer double-faulted at ad-out. With the championship on his racket, the former world No. 1 made no mistake. Nadal won the last four points of the match and clinched victory at 40-15 with a powerful forehand winner.
“That’s just amazing; that’s a lot,” Nadal said of having won eight titles at Roland Garros. “That’s more than I even can dream about. I never thought about something like this. But here we are today…. During the seven months there were some low moments. I am lucky I have a great team around me that really supported me. Since I came back, the results have just been amazing for me.”
“He was better,” Ferrer assured. “He’s playing unbelievable tennis. Maybe I need more experience in the final of a Grand Slam. I was a little bit nervous. It’s normal.”
Ferrer wrapped up his effort with 22 winners and 35 errors. Nadal recorded 35 winners and 25 errors while serving at 70 percent and capitalizing on exactly half of his 16 break-point opportunities.
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