Home » “My best Roland Garros final came against Novak Djokovic,” Rafael Nadal reflects.

The most dominant player in tennis history at a single Major has been Rafael Nadal. With only three losses at his beloved tournament throughout the course of his 18 visits to Paris, the Spaniard has won 14 Roland Garros trophies while remaining competitive for nearly 20 years.

Rafa chose the victory over his fiercest opponent, Novak Djokovic, in the 2020 final as his ideal Roland Garros outcome. In October 2020, Rafael Nadal won his 13th Roland Garros championship, tying Roger Federer‘s record of 20 Major victories.

Despite difficult circumstances and a formidable foe on the other side, Nadal was prepared to prolong his rule in Paris. He surmounted every challenge, including not having a roof over his head, to win decisively and make history. After winning 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 41 minutes, Rafa won his 13th Roland Garros title, becoming the 100th Parisian to win 102 games!

In seven sets, Nadal was broken eight times, and Djokovic was unable to match Nadal‘s clay-court magic. Rafa controlled his shots well and stole 51% of the return points to take seven breaks out of 18 chances and put Novak behind him with 31 winners and 14 unforced errors.

For more over two hours, Djokovic battled to perform at his best, making 50 unforced errors and falling short of Nadal‘s speed in the first two sets. After staying close to each other in the more complex exchanges, Rafa defeated Novak in the smallest range up to four strokes and won that section.

When Novak’s backhand landed long in the opening game of the match, the Spaniard got off to a great start and gained a break.

The 2020 Roland Garros final, according to Rafael Nadal, is the most anticipated.

At 2-0, Nadal won another return game to expand his lead. At 4-0, he painted a backhand crosscourt winner to widen the margin.

For the first time in the Roland Garros finals since he defeated Roger Federer in 2008, Rafa held at 15 in game six to win the opening set with a bagel! To establish a 6-0, 6-2 lead in an hour and 34 minutes, the defending champion earned two breaks in set number two and held at 30 in game eight with a service winner.

After trading breaks in the midst of the set, they remained even until 5-5 in the third. In the eleventh game, Novak committed a double fault, breaking Rafa’s serve and giving the Spaniard the opportunity to win the match.

Nadal lost to Djokovic in the semi-final a year later, but the Spaniard got his comeback in the quarter-final this year. “Throughout Roland Garros 2020, I became better and better, saving my best tennis for the championship match.

Given my fierce rival, I put on one of my best performances in the title matches in Paris during the battle versus Djokovic. It was a huge accomplishment for me, and I was ecstatic “stated Rafael Nadal.