Hyderabad: The 2020 French Open fortnight came to a roller coaster ending at Paris' architectural heritage Roland Garros on Sunday. The 'King of Clay', as he is fondly called, Rafael Nadal held aloft the Coupe des Mousquetaires to complete his second quadruple at Paris. In the women's singles final, in a Rafaesque display of powerful tennis, teenage Iga Swiatek notched up a history for her country becoming the first player from Poland to win a Grand Slam title. Entered the French Open ranked 54, she became the lowest-ranked woman to win the French Open in Open Era.
Unlike the previous editions, the just-concluded French Open was different in many ways. Played in the backdrop of coronavirus situations, players, who are familiar with playing in the warmth of Paris summer, had to accustom and endure the autumnal cold and rain. Usually played under the shining blue sky with the summer's bright sun showing its might at clay, the Philippe Chatrier court came up with its brand new retractable roof cover to keep the dust remain. In another first, the matches had to be played under floodlights, while the slow and heavy Wilson balls made Roland Garros' clay-court tennis fundamentally different.
However, among all these changes, what remained the same was Rafael Nadal's domination at the Roland Garros. The Spaniard, who skipped this year's US Open citing the fear of coronavirus infection, won the French Open for a record-extending 13th time in 15 years, and he marked the moment with his trademark trophy biting celebration.
Nadal's straight-sets destruction of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, his ardent rival, propelled him to 20 Grand Slam titles, a feat which brought him on par with Roger Federer's men's record of 20 Majors. However, Nadal's preparations for his favourite Grand Slam tournament was far from perfect. Due to the ravaging coronavirus situation in his home country, he couldn't get enough outdoor practice. The result of being deprived of intense training was evident when he lost the Italian Open quarterfinal in Rome to World No. 8 Diego Schwartzman in September. This defeat meant the 34-year-old had to enter the French Open without winning a clay-court tournament for the first time in his career.
But the way he negated the Serbian's mountainous challenge to reach an unprecedented height of his career worths millions of appreciations. It was a very special victory for Nadal as Djokovic was unbeaten in five straight Grand Slam finals. And his only loss in 38 matches this year was a disqualification for an unfortunate incident when he struck a female lines official in the throat with the ball in the US Open last month.
What made his victory more special was his longevity. Nadal won his first Major exactly 15 years back when he shocked Mariano Puerta 6–7, 6–3, 6–1, 7–5 in his first appearance in the French Open. What also came to fore with his latest Major win is his continues quest for excellence in the realm of singles. In between his first and latest Grand Slam win, he also notched a record winning stunning six Majors after turning 30.
Djokovic, who enjoys 29-27 head to head record against Nadal, has always been central to Nadal's rise in stature in the sport. The epic of their rivalry was arguably the 2012 Australian Open when after a six-hour-long exhaustive final Nadal conceded the title to Djokovic. Following this defeat, Nadal made his attacking prowess far neater. Then came the low of 2015-16 when he had to deal with an unprecedented low ebb. But he roared back, bettered his backhand; worked on his fitness to come back as a more agile and sharper player to get the better of his toughest opponent, Djokovic. It seemed Sunday's victory was the culmination of his all hard work. Nadal made only nine backhand errors against Djokovic's 26. With this victory, he also sets up an intriguing 2021 as all-time Major record embarks on him.
On the eve of Nadal's 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Djokovic, teenage girl Iga Swiatek appeared as his true heir. Iga, who modelled Rafal Nadal's style of play blending her game with power and intelligence, became the first player to win the French Open women's singles without dropping a set in 13 years when she got better of tactically astute American Sofia Kenin 6-4,6-1. Justine Henin of Belgium was the last woman to achieve the patented feat in 2007 when she defeated Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2. As a result; the French Open has crowned fourth successive first-time women's singles Grand Slam winner. With this victory, the 19-year-old rose to 37 places to reach the 17th position on the WTA rankings.
Notwithstanding, Iga Swiatek is a worthy addition to the frequently changing modern tennis. The youngest women's French Open champion since 1992, Iga is also the eighth first-time winner in last 13 Grand Slam women's singles finals. The Pole, whose career earning before the French Open was $1.1 million, announced her arrival with a bang, taking a coveted $1,894,332 cheque from the Roland Garros.
-- By Sudipta Biswas
