BEVERLY HILLS, October 11, (THEWILL) – The King of Clay, Rafael Nadal reaffirmed his undisputed sovereignty on the Roland Garros surface just as he moved level with the Swiss maestro Roger Federer after winning his 20th Grand Slam title in a stunning straight-sets victory over top seed Novak Djokovic at the 2020 French Open.
As he equalled the Grand Slam haul of his great rival Federer, the Spaniard also won the crown of champion at Roland Garros for an unprecedented 13th time. He achieved this in a blistering display of power hitting on Court Philippe Chatrier. It was an historic one too for the French Open as it was the first indoor final in Paris with the roof closed.
Djokovic, the World No. 1, was aiming to become the first man in the Open era to win each major twice and to take his own Grand Slam tally to 18. He will have to wait some more because he was comprehensively outclassed by Nadal, who reminded the Serb that he is still the undeniable top dog in Paris with a 6-0 6-2 7-5 victory.
In what was hyped as a gargantuan showdown, Nadal cruised into a unassailable 4-0 lead with Djokovic doing very little wrong. Such was the Spaniard’s superhuman level early on in the tie. He was simply unplayable.
THEWILL notes how remarkable it was that it took 48 minutes for the Spaniard to bagel the World No. 1 with a scoreline that did nothing to describe the incredible rallies the duo shared for the duration of the set, but that ultimately reflected the surprising aggression and attacking play from the ‘King of Clay’ from the onset. It was the first time since 2006 that the opening set of a Grand Slam men’s singles final had been won 6-0 since Federer did so against Nadal that year at Wimbledon.
Belatedly, Djokovic roused himself to get on the board after a staggering 55 minutes following a seemingly interminable deuce where he still had to work hard to save three break points.
There was nothing the top seed did not try to hedge his gradual decline, but he could still only muster two games in the second set. That set was literally littered by the Serbian’s own unforced errors. Nadal simply refused to let his absurd level drop and, as he took the set, he assumed a commanding lead that was going to need something of a catastrophic meltdown to let off.
The man currently ranked the best player in the world, Djokovic simply had no answers for the man in sterling form on his most favourite surface. When Djokovic was broken decisively to love at 2-2, any and all hopes of an epic resurgence must have faded swiftly. Though he staged a brief resistance in a topsy-turvy third set, Nadal still had the edge and he clinched the breakthrough from 5-5.
The second seed went on to complete what was quite a breathtaking triumph wherein he not only equalled Federer’s tally and extended his incredible run at Roland Garros, but, above all, the displayed the level of his prowess in the devastatingly convincing fashion with which he put his greatest current rival away.
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