French Open Review
by Anudeep Bhattacharyya
An action packed summer of tennis was well and truly underway following the conclusion of the French Open. A tournament which should be renamed the 'Roland Nadal' after the Spaniard once again rolled on through to collect not only an 9th title but also tie Pete Sampras with 14 Grand Slams.
NADAL TRIUMPHS AGAIN IN 2ND HOME
It was a fantastic fortnight for the world number one as the Spaniard won his incredible 9th French Open Title. Coming into the event there were a lot of doubts about whether Nadal could defend his title, and the bookmakers installed Djokovic as favourite. His clay season before Roland Garros had been mediocre by his high standards, only winning the Madrid Open with losses in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome.
But Nadal, as he so often does, raised his game when it mattered, and upped his level for the only clay Grand Slam of the year. The first few rounds were solid for Nadal, and despite being bothered by his back injury, he cruised into the quarter final without much trouble. In his quarter final match he went one set down against David Ferrer, but this seemed to bring Nadal to life, as the world number 1 roared back to convincingly take the next 3 sets and go into the semi-final. The semi-final saw Nadal at his scary best, pulverising Andy Murray 6-3 6-2 6-1. The Brit was helpless as he was torn apart by Nadal's gigantic forehand and sharp movement.
The final against Novak Djokovic was always going to be the toughest test for Nadal, and after winning the match-up in Rome, Djokovic headed into the match with confidence. The first set in the way of Djokovic, with Nadal making poor unforced errors in the crucial moments to hand his opponent the advantage. However the second set saw Nadal bite back, breaking in a crucial game at 6-5 to level the match at one set all.
The third set saw Nadal up his game further, while Djokovic was struggling with the heat. Nadal powered the set 6-2, to take a 2 sets to 1 advantage in the match.
advantage in the match. The fourth set had incredible drama, but the quality of the play was decreasing, as Nadal struggled with cramps and Djokovic's play was fluctuating in the heat. After both breaking each other, it was Djokovic who folded first; serving a double fault match point down at 4-5 to hand the match to Nadal.
With this victory Nadal has now won a Grand Slam for 10 successive years, which is unprecedented, and is second highest on the list of Grand Slams won, joint with Pete Sampras.